Author/Editor     Erman, Andreja; Križan-Hergouth, Veronika; Blango, Matthew G.; Kerec Kos, Mojca; Mulvey, Matthew A.; Veranič, Peter
Title     Repeated treatments with chitosan in combination with antibiotics completely eradicate uropathogenic Escherichia coli from infected mouse urinary bladders
Type     članek
Publication year     2017
Volume     str. str.
ISSN     0022-1899 - The Journal of infectious diseases
Language     eng
Abstract     Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC), the primary causative agent of urinary tract infections, colonize and invade the epithelial cells of the bladder urothelium. Infection of immature urothelial cells can result in the formation of persistent intracellular reservoirs that are refractory to antibiotic treatments. Previously, we defined a novel therapeutic strategy utilizing the bladder cell exfoliant chitosan to deplete UPEC reservoirs. However, though a single treatment of chitosan followed by ciprofloxacin administration had a marked effect on reducing UPEC titers within the bladder, this treatment failed to prevent relapsing bacteriuria. We show here that repeated application of chitosan in conjuction with the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, completely eradicates UPEC from the urinary tract and prevents the development of relapsing bouts of bacteruria. In addition, microscopy revealed rapid restoration of bladder integrity following chitosan treatment, indicating that chitosan can be used to effectively combat recalcitrant bladder infections without causing any lasting harm to the urothelium.
Keywords     urinary tract infection
chitosan
urothelium
okužba sečil
hitozan
urotelij