
A new finding by researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas and UT Southwestern Medical Center shows that several species of bacteria reside in bladder tissue of postmenopausal women who experience recurrent urinary tract infections (RUTIs).
The results, published online April 17 in the
Journal of Molecular Biology, represent the first systematic analysis of biopsies from patients in this population. The findings provide a better understanding of the interaction between bacteria and host tissue, which might lead to more effective treatment strategies.
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are irritating and painful, sometimes debilitatingly so. The majority of UTIs are caused by the bacterium
Escherichia coli, which normally lives in human intestines but sometimes gets into the urinary tract, where it is not welcome.