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Assessing The Temporal Dynamics Of The Lower Urinary Tract Microbiota And The Effects Of Lifestyle, Travis Kyle Price

Dissertations

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common bacterial infections in humans, accounting for $3.5 billion in health care expenditures yearly in the United States alone. Yet, treatments for UTI have seen little innovation over the past decade. As demonstrated in other body sites, such as the vagina and gastrointestinal (GI) tract, acute and infectious diseases often have indirect microbial contributions which serve as intriguing new targets for therapies. The recent discovery of the existence of a resident community of bacteria (i.e., microbiota) in the bladders of both women and men, represents a novel avenue for targeting UTIs. However, …

Longitudinal Urinary Microbiome Studies: A Need To Transition To Voided Urine, Baylie Hochstedler

Master's Theses

It is now established that the bladder is not sterile; it contains communities of microbes (microbiota). While the healthy bladder microbiota have been defined using expanded quantitative urine culture (EQUC) and urines obtained by transurethral catheterization (TUC), longitudinal and population studies have not previously been possible. These studies cannot be done using TUC urines, as it would be impractical to catheterize participants daily. Instead, we must transition to using voided urines.In order to make this switch, we have addressed three main issues raised by using voided urine. First, we showed that EQUC out performs standard urine culture on voided urines …

Mechanism By Which Commensal Bacteria Limit Inflammation, Mallory Paynich

Dissertations

Trillions of bacteria live within the gastrointestinal tract and are critical for maintaining intestinal homeostasis; however, the mechanisms utilized by specific bacterial molecules to contribute to homeostasis are not well understood. We utilize a mouse model in which a single oral dose of the probiotic, Bacillus subtilis, protects mice from acute colitis induced by the enteric pathogen Citrobacter rodentium. Our goal is to elucidate the mechanism by which B. subtilis prevents inflammation.

We identified exopolysaccharides (EPS) to be the active molecule of B. subtilis, and a single dose of EPS protects mice from disease. EPS binds F4/80+CD11b+ peritoneal macrophages, and …

The Contribution Of The Female Urinary Microbiota To Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms, Travis Kyle Price

Master's Theses

The recent finding that urine is not sterile raises a lot of questions: first and foremost, what microorganisms are present, and are these microorganisms correlated with clinical urinary symptoms? Recent work on the female urinary microbiota (FUM) found that the communities of microorganisms differ between women with no lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and those with Urgency Urinary Incontinence (UUI) a form of over-active bladder syndrome. Specifically, a diverse or dysbiotic urinary microbiota was found to be associated with symptomatic women. This suggests the possibility that the FUM can be contributing to urinary symptoms. Conversely, it could also suggest that …

Role Of The Intestinal Microbiota In Gut Barrier Dysfunction Following Burn Injury, Zachary Earley

Master's Theses

Burn injury represents a major medical problem with half a million cases requiring medical attention and 4,000 deaths reported annually. Sepsis and multiple organ failure remain the leading causes of death following injury, and may be brought on by bacterial infections or toxins. The gastrointestinal tract contains approx. 100 trillion microbes; therefore, the indigenous commensal microbiota may play a role in leading to these complications or infections in burn patients. The overall objective of this project is to identify a potential mechanism whereby changes in gut bacteria may lead to intestinal inflammation or bacterial translocation--key factors which may lead to …

Urinary Antimicrobial Peptides And The Urinary Microbiota In A Uti-Susceptible Population Of Female Pelvic Floor Surgery Patients, Vanessa Nienhouse

Master's Theses

Urinary tract infections (UTI)s are a national priority. Women who undergo surgery for pelvic floor disorders such as pelvic organ prolapse (POP) or urinary incontinence (UI) are at increased risk for UTI, as 10-30% will contract a post-instrumentation UTI (postI-UTI) within six weeks after surgery. Currently, the factors that contribute to the high rate of postI-UTI are unknown, and there is currently no clinical assessment to identify at-risk patients. However, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and characteristics of the urinary microbiota have the potential to serve as biomarkers, identifying patients at UTI risk and facilitating clinical prevention studies.

While it was previously …