New study shows overgrowth of nerve cells are to blame for persistent UTIs
Urinary Tract Infections are a common occurrence in women. In fact, 60% of all women will develop UTIs over the course of their lifetime.
Women are 30 times more likely to develop the infection than men.
A study released Friday on Science Immunology by researchers with Duke Health reveals an overgrowth of nerve cells could be to blame, rather than bacteria.
Soman Abraham, senior author on the study and a professor with Duke University, specializes in pathology, molecular genetics and cell biology.
He explained patients with recurrent infections are typically automatically prescribed the same antibiotics whenever symptoms flare up again.
“One of the observations made by clinicians is that often when someone is provided these treatments you don’t really detect any bacteria in the urine,” said Abraham. “The patients have symptoms of a UTI but they don’t seem to have any bacteria in the urine, which was puzzling to us and the reason for this particular study.”
The study compared bladder biopsies of patients with and without recurrent UTIs.
“One of the most striking features is the fact that in patients with recurrent UTIs there was a high density of neurons that we could visualize that was virtually absent in the control patient,” Abraham explained.
The findings indicated that the source of the pain and symptoms of the UTI was due to the rapidly growing neurons, rather than bacteria.
Abraham said this could mean that instead of prescribing someone with persistent urinary tract infections antibiotics, it could be better to prescribe medication specifically aimed at controlling symptoms and managing pain.
“Giving antibiotics to patients for significant periods of time can give rise to antibiotic resistance. Also, if you treat patients for prolonged periods of time with antibiotics, the antibiotics are not only targeting the bladder but also the gut, microflora, microbiome: all of which are actually beneficial to us,” he stated.
The researcher said he hopes the study can support further research and potential development of a medication that would prevent rapid nerve growth from occurring.
