Department of Urology, Naval Medical Center, San Diego, California, USA.
Division of Pediatric Urology, Nationwide Children's Hospital, USA; The Ohio State University, School of Medicine, USA; Center for Microbial Pathogenesis, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
To highlight observations that have suggested the need for changing the conventional approach to the evaluation and management of urinary tract infections (UTIs) and vesicoureteral reflux in children and examine new alternative approaches to prevention of UTI and renal scarring based on research into host-pathogen interaction.
Recent studies have questioned the traditional approach of using prophylactic antibiotics to prevent recurrence of UTI and development of renal scarring in children with vesicoureteral reflux. Ongoing research on host-pathogen interactions reveals a promising capability to analyze virulence factors in bacteria causing UTIs in children, identify highly virulent bacteria capable of causing pyelonephritis and renal injury, and to selectively target the gastrointestinal reservoirs of these bacteria for elimination using probiotics.
Promising experimental studies correlating bacterial virulence with pattern of UTI and identification and characterization of a newly available probiotic capable of eradicating uropathogenic bacteria make targeted probiotic prevention of renal injury-inducing UTIs a potential therapeutic reality.
Written by:
Storm DW, Patel AS, Koff SA, Justice SS. Are you the author?
Reference: Curr Opin Urol. 2011 Apr 23. Epub ahead of print.
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 21519273
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