Urinary tract E. coli: the good guys versus the bad guys

大肠杆菌是发达国家泌尿道感染（UTI）的主要原因。仅在澳大利亚，E.大肠杆菌每年影响超过25万人，他们需要医疗干预。据估计，四分之一的女性和二十分之一的男性将在其一生中发展UTI，并且在美国UTI每年导致16亿美元的医疗费用。肾盂肾炎大肠大肠杆菌（UPEC）菌株容易在留置导管上形成生物膜，并且最近的证据表明它们也在膀胱中形成生物膜样聚集体。目前除抗生素外没有其他治疗方法（由于耐药性通常无效）。E.大肠杆菌也是无症状菌尿症（ABU）的最常见原因。ABU发生在高达6%的健康个体中，并影响老年人和糖尿病患者等高危人群。一般来说，大多数ABU患者不需要治疗，在许多情况下，定植的微生物实际上有助于防止其他毒性更强的细菌感染。本项目的目的是比较UPEC和ABU E。大肠杆菌的差异与毒力和生物膜生长。该项目将产生一个全面和明确的菌株库相对于E。导致UTI的大肠杆菌。了解这种生物的生物膜生长可能会导致改进和/或新的治疗方法的发展。此外，增加了对ABU E.大肠杆菌是必不可少的，如果我们要充分探索利用这些生物体作为益生菌剂，以防止感染其他病原体在特定的高风险患者群体的可能性。

Escherichia coli is the primary cause of urinary tract infection (UTI) in the developed world. In Australia alone, E. coli affects more than 250,000 yearly to the extent where they require medical intervention. It is estimated that one in four women and one in twenty men will develop a UTI in their lifetime and in the USA UTIs result in $1.6 billion in medical expenses each year. Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) strains readily form biofilms on indwelling catheters and recent evidence suggests that they also form biofilm-like aggregates in the bladder. No treatment other than antibiotics (often inefficient due to resistance) is currently available. E. coli is also the most frequent cause of asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU). ABU occurs in up to 6% of healthy individuals and affects high risk groups such as the elderly and diabetics. In general, most patients with ABU do not need treatment and in many cases the colonizing organism actually helps to prevent infection by other more virulent bacteria. The aim of this project is to compare UPEC and ABU E. coli for differences associated with virulence and biofilm growth. The project will generate a comprehensive and defined strain bank relative to E. coli that cause UTI. Understanding biofilm growth by this organism may lead to the development of improved and-or novel treatments. Furthermore, increased knowledge of ABU E. coli is essential if we are to fully explore the possibility of employing these organisms as probiotic agents to prevent infection by other pathogens in specific high risk patient groups.