Background Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common disease with a significant risk of relapse. Deliberate bladder colonization with asymptomatic Escherichia coli is being explored as a potential strategy to fend off invading uropathogens thereby mitigating the risk symptomatic UTI. Currently, one major obstacle is the low success rates for achieving persistent bladder colonization with asymptomatic bacteria and experimental challenge studies are lacking. Here, we assessed the influence of an indwelling bladder catheter on the ability of asymptomatic E. coli to colonize the bladder and to assess the protective efficacy of such colonization against experimental urinary tract infection with uropathogenic E. coli. Methods Pigs with or without indwelling bladder catheters were experimentally inoculated with the asymptomatic E. coli strain 83972 and subsequently challenged by inoculation with the uropathogenic E. coli isolate, UTI89. The animals were monitored with regular urine and blood samples and bladders and kidneys were harvested at termination. Results All pigs with indwelling catheters were colonized by 83972 in response to inoculation, compared to pigs without catheters in which only one of eight animals were colonized. When removing the catheter, 83972 were spontaneously cleared. Colonization with 83972 prevented experimental infection in 50% of animals compared to controls that all became infected. Conclusions The presence of indwelling bladder catheters strongly facilitates the colonization of 83972, indicating that individuals using catheters may be particularly suited for receiving this treatment. The research supports prophylactic colonization with 83972 as a potential strategy to reduce the risk of urinary tract infections.

中文翻译：

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膀胱导管插入术改善了尿路感染实验猪模型中对无症状大肠杆菌 83972 的细菌干扰


背景 尿路感染 （UTI） 是一种常见的疾病，具有显著的复发风险。正在探索用无症状的大肠埃希菌故意膀胱定植，作为抵御入侵尿路病原体的潜在策略，从而减轻症状性 UTI 的风险。目前，一个主要障碍是实现无症状细菌持续膀胱定植的成功率低，并且缺乏实验挑战研究。在这里，我们评估了留置膀胱导管对无症状大肠杆菌定植膀胱能力的影响，并评估了这种定植对尿路致病性大肠杆菌实验性尿路感染的保护功效。方法 实验性地将有或没有留置膀胱导管的猪接种无症状的大肠杆菌菌株 83972，随后通过接种尿路致病性大肠埃希菌分离株 UTI89 进行攻击。用常规尿液和血液样本监测动物，并在终止时收集膀胱和肾脏。结果 所有留置导管的猪在接种后都被 83972 定植，而没有导管的猪在 8 只动物中只有 1 只被定植。拔除导管时，83972 例自发清除。与所有动物都被感染的对照相比，用 83972 定植预防了 50% 的动物的实验性感染。结论留置膀胱导管的存在强烈促进了 83972 的定植，表明使用导管的个体可能特别适合接受这种治疗。该研究支持将 83972 的预防性定植作为降低尿路感染风险的潜在策略。