Emerging pathogens in urinary tract infections: virulence and phenotypic characterization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains
Abstract
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) affect a broad patient population and inflict a substantial financial burden on the U.S. healthcare system. While uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) causes the majority of cases, other pathogens are emerging. Patient data from our healthcare system in the Gulf Coast region of Alabama revealed that Pseudomonas aeruginosa accounted for 4.0% of UTI cases, roughly double the national average, prompting further investigation into this historically understudied uropathogen. Here, we performed whole-genome sequencing and phenotypic assays on 55 urinary P. aeruginosa isolates to characterize genomic diversity, antibiotic resistance, and virulence-associated phenotypes in the context of UTI. Multilocus sequence typing identified 19 strains with novel sequence types, underscoring the uncharacterized diversity of urinary P. aeruginosa isolates. Serotype O6 was most common and enriched in patients with indwelling catheters, whereas O4 was linked to diabetes mellitus. Antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) revealed high levofloxacin resistance (29.1%), with 14.5% multidrug-resistant (MDR) and 9.1% extensively drug-resistant (XDR) isolates. Resistance patterns correlated with demographics, including higher meropenem and aztreonam resistance among isolates from African American patients. Phenotypic assays of growth, motility, and biofilm formation revealed negative correlations between antibiotic resistance and virulence. Specific virulence genes…
Read the paper
Related studies
- Association of lower urinary tract symptoms and OAB severity with quality of life and mental health in China, Taiwan and South Korea: results from a cross-sectional, population-based study
- Ten-Day Quadruple Therapy Comprising Low-Dose Rabeprazole, Bismuth, Amoxicillin, and Tetracycline Is an Effective and Safe First-Line Treatment for Helicobacter pylori Infection in a Population with High Antibiotic Resistance: a Prospective, Multicenter, Randomized, Parallel-Controlled Clinical Trial in China
- The Role of the NLR and PLR in Urinary Tract Infection
- Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance among Pilgrims with Infectious Diseases during Hajj: Lessons Learnt from COVID-19 Pandemic
- Leclercia adecarboxylata urinary tract infection in a patient with bladder cancer and recurrent hematuria
- A Case Series of Staphylococcus lugdunensis Infection in Cancer Patients at an Academic Cancer Institute in the United States
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.