51. Cathelicidin augments epithelial receptivity and pathogenesis in experimental Escherichia coli cystitis.
- Author
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Danka ES and Hunstad DA
- Subjects
- Animals, Anti-Bacterial Agents metabolism, Anti-Bacterial Agents pharmacology, Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides, Cathelicidins metabolism, Cathelicidins pharmacology, Cystitis microbiology, Cystitis pathology, Cytokines metabolism, Disease Models, Animal, Escherichia coli Infections microbiology, Escherichia coli Infections pathology, Female, Humans, Immunity, Innate, Mice, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Urinary Bladder microbiology, Urinary Bladder pathology, Urinary Tract Infections microbiology, Urinary Tract Infections pathology, Urothelium microbiology, Urothelium pathology, Cathelicidins genetics, Cystitis immunology, Escherichia coli Infections immunology, Urinary Tract Infections immunology, Uropathogenic Escherichia coli pathogenicity
- Abstract
Background: Cathelicidin is a proposed defender against infection of the urinary tract via its antimicrobial properties, but its activity has not been delineated in a dedicated cystitis model., Methods: Female C57Bl/6 mice, wild type or deficient in cathelin-related antimicrobial peptide (CRAMP; an ortholog of the sole human cathelicidin, LL-37), were infected transurethrally with the cystitis-derived uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) strain UTI89. Infection course was evaluated by bladder titers, intracellular bacterial community quantification, and histological analysis. Immune responses and resolution were characterized through cytokine profiling, microscopy, and quantitation of epithelial recovery from exfoliation., Results: CRAMP-deficient mice exhibited significantly lower bladder bacterial loads and fewer intracellular bacterial communities during acute cystitis. Although differences in bacterial titers were evident as early as 1 hour after infection, CRAMP-deficient mice showed no baseline alterations in immune activation, uroepithelial structure, apical expression of uroplakins (which serve as bacterial receptors), or intracellular bacterial growth rate. CRAMP-deficient hosts demonstrated less intense cytokine responses, diminished neutrophil infiltration, and accelerated uroepithelial recovery., Conclusions: Mice lacking the antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin experienced less severe infection than wild-type mice in a well-established model of cystitis. Although CRAMP exhibits in vitro antibacterial activity against UPEC, it may enhance UPEC infection in the bladder by promoting epithelial receptivity and local inflammation., (© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)
- Published
- 2015
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