UPEC Colonic-Virulence and Urovirulence Are Blunted by Proanthocyanidins-Rich Cranberry Extract Microbial Metabolites in a Gut Model and a 3D Tissue-Engineered Urothelium

Abstract

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) are the primary cause of recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI). The poor understanding of UPEC ecology-pathophysiology from its reservoir–the gut, to its infection site–the urothelium, partly explains the inadequate and abusive use of antibiotics to treat UTI, which leads to a dramatic upsurge in antibiotic-resistance cases.

Phenotypic Assessment of Clinical Escherichia coli Isolates as an Indicator for Uropathogenic Potential

“…UPEC is part of the extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) grouping, which encompasses any E. coli that causes disease outside of the gut ( 6 , 7 ). However, UPEC resides in both the gut, likely as a reservoir, and the urinary tract, which serves as the site of active infection ( 8 , 9 ). Unlike other E. coli pathotypes, which can be identified by specific virulence gene repertoires, UPEC has incredible genetic heterogeneity ( 10 , 11 ) and encodes a wide variety of virulence factors: up to six virulence-associated iron acquisition systems, six toxins, and 13 different adhesins ( 3 , 12 – 14 ).…”

Mathematical modeling of fluid dynamics in in vitro gut fermentation systems: A new tool to improve the interpretation of microbial metabolism

“…To model the evolution of the concentration of a treatment compound added to these dynamic in vitro gut fermentation systems, we developed an ordinary differential equations (ODEs) model for each configuration of the PolyfermS (continuous and discrete approaches of TrC addition) and SHIME® systems (short and full configurations). ODEs were numerically simulated using the ode function from the deSolve package (1.33) in R (4.1.3), using R Studio (2022.07.2 + 576), with parameters commonly used in our lab and found in the literature for the PolyFermS 35,36 and the short and full SHIME® 25,37 (Tables 1–3, respectively). Equations of the treatment compound concentration depending on time ($$$ C(t) $$$) within the continuous PolyFermS, the continuous section of the discrete PolyFermS, the global discrete PolyFermS, and the short configuration of the SHIME® system were analytically obtained by solving the ODEs (see Supplementary Material and Methods).…”

Characterization of the Interindividual Variability Associated with the Microbial Metabolism of (−)-Epicatechin

“…To extract SCFA, 0.5 g of feces was suspended in 5 mL of ultrapure water and homogenized with a Bead Ruptor (Omni, Kennesaw, Georgia) at 4.0 m/s for 2 min. Then, fecal suspension was centrifuged at 5500 g and 4 °C for 30 min and 500 μL of the supernatant was transferred to a clean tube and extracted as thoroughly described elsewhere . Acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, isobutyric acid, valeric acid, isovaleric acid, and hexanoic acid were quantified by GC-FID (Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan).…”

“…Then, fecal suspension was centrifuged at 5500g and 4 °C for 30 min and 500 μL of the supernatant was transferred to a clean tube and extracted as thoroughly described elsewhere. 31 Acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, isobutyric acid, valeric acid, isovaleric acid, and hexanoic acid were quantified by GC-FID (Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan). SCFA analysis was carried out in duplicate.…”