Non antibiotic approach to UTI treatment

Most important step in causing uti bu uropathogenic Escherichia coli, is the "adhesion" of bacteria to urothelial cells.

This attachment is mediated by "FimH", a mannose-binding adhesin, which is expressed on the bacterial surface.

To date, UTIs are mainly treated with antibiotics, leading to the ubiquitous problem of increasing resistance against most of the currently available antimicrobials. Therefore, new treatment strategies are urgently needed, avoiding selection pressure and thereby implying a reduced risk of resistance.

A new class of highly active antimicrobials, anti adhesive molecule targeting the virulence factor FimH - indolinylphenyl mannoside

When it was administered in a mouse model at the low dosage of 1 mg/kg (corresponding to approximately 25 μg/mouse), the minimal therapeutic concentration to prevent UTI was maintained for more than 8 h. In a treatment study, the colony-forming units in the bladder could be reduced by almost 4 orders of magnitude, comparable to the standard antibiotic treatment with ciprofloxacin (8 mg/kg, sc).

So with the help of this novel anti adhesive molecule UTIs can be managed very simply without antibiotics.