Uropathogenic Escherichia coli: features of LC2 And EC73 strains from Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) strains are the major causative agents of human urinary tract infections (UTIs). Many patients, who develop UTI, will experience a recurrent UTI (RUTI) within 6 months despite antibiotic-mediated clearance of the initial infection. A significant proportion of RUTIs are caused by E. coli identical to the original strain. UPEC employs several strategies to adhere, colonize, and persist within the bladder niche. The knowledge about the mechanisms regulating specific host-pathogen interactions that promote bacterial persistence is necessary to eliminate UPEC reservoirs from the bladder and to develop new approaches to RUTI diagnosis and treatment. In this study, we analyzed 2 E. coli strains collected from patients with RUTIs, namely LC2 and EC73, in order to elucidate the persistence-promoting behavior of bacteria in UTIs.

尿路致病性大肠埃希菌（Uropathogenic Escherichia coli, UPEC）是引发人类尿路感染（Urinary Tract Infection, UTI）的主要致病菌。许多确诊尿路感染的患者，即便初始感染已通过抗生素治疗得到清除，仍会在6个月内出现复发性尿路感染（Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection, RUTI）。其中相当一部分复发性尿路感染由与初始感染株完全一致的大肠埃希菌引发。尿路致病性大肠埃希菌可通过多种策略在膀胱微环境中黏附、定植并持续存活。明确调控宿主-病原体特异性互作以促进细菌持续存活的分子机制，是清除膀胱内尿路致病性大肠埃希菌定植库、开发复发性尿路感染诊断与治疗新方案的必要前提。本研究选取两株从复发性尿路感染患者体内分离得到的大肠埃希菌LC2与EC73进行分析，旨在阐明细菌在尿路感染过程中促进持续存活的行为机制。