Abstract
The concept of local and diffuse adherence has been described for enteropathogenicEscherichia coli. In the present study, similar findings are reported for bacterial adherence to uroepithelial cells from patients with acute urinary tract infection and following incubation in an in vitro adherence assay. A population of cells were seen with few or no bacteria attached; others had localized areas of adherent organisms, while some cells were heavily colonized in a diffuse manner. These patterns were noted in vitro for anEscherichia coli strain and aLactobacillus casei strain, which possess different adhesins, therefore indicating that the adherence patterns were probably due to epithelial cell differences. The light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy observations illustrate that bacterial adherence to uroepithelial cells occurs in localized and diffuse distributions. The results indicate that there are differences in uroepithelial cell receptivity for bacterial attachment. The availability of cells receptive to uropathogens and indigenous flora, such as lactobacilli, is probably one of several factors that influence the pathogenesis of urinary tract infections.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Bruce AW, Reid G (1988) Intravaginal instillation of lactobacilli for prevention of recurrent urinary tract infections. Can J Microbiol 34:339–343.
Bruce AW, Chan RCY, Pinkerton D, Morales A, Chadwick P (1983) Adherence of gram-negative uropathogens to human uroepithelial cells. J Urol 130:293–298
Chan RCY, Reid G, Irvin RT, Bruce AW, Costerton JW (1985) Competitive exclusion of uropathogens from human uroepithelial cells byLactobacillus whole cells and cell wall fragments. Infect Immun 47:84–89
Hagberg L, Hull R, Hull S, Falkow S, Freter R, Svanborg Eden C (1983) Contribution of adhesion to bacterial persistence in the mouse urinary tract. Infect Immun 40:265–272
Jacobson SH, Carstensen A, Kallenius G, Lins LE, Svenson SB (1986) P-fimbriae receptor accessibility in patients with renal scarring. In: Abstracts of the 4th International Symposium on Pyelonephritis. Goteborg, Sweden, June #89.
Kallenius G, Mollby R, Svenson SB, Helin I, Hultberg H, Cedergren B, Winberg J (1981) Occurrence of P-fimbriatedEscherichia coli in urinary tract infections. Lancet 2:1369–1372
Leffler H, Svanborg Eden C (1981) Glycolipid receptors for uropathogenicEscherichia coli on human erythrocytes and uroepithelial cells. Infect Immun 34:920–929
MacIntosh P, Watson BW, O'Grady F (1975) Theory of hydrokinetic clearance of bacteria from the urinary bladder. II. Effects of “bound” organisms and diuresis. Invest Urol 12:473–478
Marrie TJ, Lam J, Costerton JW (1980) Bacterial adhesion to uroepithelial cells: a morphologic study. J. Infect Dis 142:239–246
Nataro JP, Scaletsky ICA, Kaper JB, Levine MM, Trabulsi LR (1985) Plasmid-mediated factors conferring diffuse and localized adherence of enteropathogenicEscherichia coli. Infect Immun 48:378–383
Reid G, Brooks HJL (1984) In vitro attachment ofE. coli to human epithelial cells. NZ Med J 97:439–442
Reid G, Brooks HJL (1985) A fluorescent antibody staining technique to detect bacterial adherence to urinary tract epithelial cells. Stain Technol 60:211–217
Reid G, Sobel JD (1987) Bacterial adherence in the pathogenesis of urinary tract infection: a review. Rev Infect Dis 9:470–487
Reid G, Brooks HJL, Bacon DF (1983) In vitro attachment ofEscherichia coli to human uroepithelial cells: variation in receptivity during the menstrual cycle and pregnancy. J Infect Dis 148:412–421
Reid G, Chan RCY, Bruce AW, Costerton JW (1985) Prevention of urinary tract infection in rats with an indigenousLactobacillus casei strain. Infect Immun 49:320–324
Reid G, Cook RL, Bruce AW (1987) Examination of strains of lactobacilli for properties that may influence bacterial interference in the urinary tract. J Urol 138:330–335
Scaletsky ICA, Silva MLM, Trabulsi LR (1984) Distinctive patterns of adherence of enteropathogenicEscherichia coli to HeLa cells. Infect Immun 45:534–536
Seddon JM, Bruce AW Chadwick P, Carter D (1976) Introital bacterial flora—effect of increased frequency of micturition. Br J Urol 48:211–218
Sparling PF (1983) Bacterial virulence and pathogenesis: an overview. Rev Infect Dis 5(Suppl 4):S637–646
Svanborg Eden C, Hanson LA, Jodal U, Lindberg U, Sohl Akerlund A (1976) Variable adherence to normal human urinary-tract epithelial cells ofEscherichia coli strains associated with various forms of urinary-tract infection. Lancet 2:490–492
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Reid, G. Local and diffuse bacterial adherence on uroepithelial cells. Current Microbiology 18, 93–97 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01570831
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01570831