Do type 1 fimbriae promote inflammation in the human urinary tract?

Summary, in English

Type 1 fimbriae have been implicated as virulence factors in animal models of urinary tract infection (UTI), but the function in human disease remains unclear. This study used a human challenge model to examine if type 1 fimbriae trigger inflammation in the urinary tract. The asymptomatic bacteriuria strain Escherichia coli 83972, which fails to express type 1 fimbriae, due to a 4.25 kb fimB-fimD deletion, was reconstituted with a functional fim gene cluster and fimbrial expression was monitored through a gfp reporter. Each patient was inoculated with the fim+ or fim- variants on separate occasions, and the host response to type 1 fimbriae was quantified by intraindividual comparisons of the responses to the fim+ or fim- isogens, using cytokines and neutrophils as end-points. Type 1 fimbriae did not promote inflammation and adherence was poor, as examined on exfoliated cells in urine. This was unexpected, as type 1 fimbriae enhanced the inflammatory response to the same strain in the murine urinary tract and as P fimbrial expression by E. coli 83972 enhances adherence and inflammation in challenged patients. We conclude that type 1 fimbriae do not contribute to the mucosal inflammatory response in the human urinary tract.

• Författare: Göran Bergsten; Björn Wullt; Mark A Schembri; Irene Leijonhufvud; Catharina Svanborg
• Avdelning/ar: Avdelningen för mikrobiologi, immunologi och glykobiologi - MIG; Urologi
• Publiceringsår: 2007
• Språk: Engelska
• Sidor: 1766-1781
• Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie: Cellular Microbiology
• Volym: 9
• Issue: 7
• Länkar: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=17359236&dopt=Abstract; http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-5822.2007.00912.x
• Dokumenttyp: Artikel i tidskrift
• Förlag: Wiley-Blackwell
• Ämne: Microbiology
• Status: Published
• Forskningsgrupp: Urology
• ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt: ISSN: 1462-5814