Uropathogenic Escherichia Coli: from molecular characteristics to clinical relevance

Meerman, M. (2016) Uropathogenic Escherichia Coli: from molecular characteristics to clinical relevance. Bachelor's Thesis, Biology.

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Abstract

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common infectious diseases worldwide and form a major public health problem, affecting 150 million people each year. While most infections remain restricted to the lower urinary tract which causes bladder infection (cystitis), the pathogen sometimes can ascend to the kidneys resulting in kidney infection (pyelonephritis). In a few cases, an uncontrolled form of pyelonephritis can lead to life-threatening and potentially fatal complications like bacteraemia and sepsis. UTIs can be caused by several pathogenic bacteria, but the primary causative agent of UTIs is uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC). UTIs are currently well treatable with antibiotics, but just like for many other bacterial species, the number of reported antibiotic- or multidrug-resistant UPEC strains is increasing. This leads to the need for an alternative treatment method, since the rise of these resistant strains makes treatment with antibiotics difficult. In this thesis, the different molecular characteristics of UPEC will be assessed in order to find a potential therapeutic target for treating UPEC-caused UTIs. Unfortunately, it is apparently currently not possible to propose a possible alternative treatment method to antibiotics, even though the need for it is expanding. With UTIs being the most occurring bacterial infection and the rise of the number of antibiotic- or multidrug-resistant UPEC strains, it is necessary to still invest money into research projects focused on UPEC genomics. I believe that future research will lead to a suitable treatment method that can help us battle UTIs that have been caused by UPEC. Hopefully, this will eventually lead to less UPEC-caused urinary tract infections or at least less discomfort for patients, lower recurrence rates and a decreased economic burden of urinary tract infections caused by uropathogenic E. coli.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor's Thesis)
Degree programme:	Biology
Thesis type:	Bachelor's Thesis
Language:	English
Date Deposited:	15 Feb 2018 08:12
Last Modified:	15 Feb 2018 08:12
URI:	https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/13973

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