Cranberry Juice and Adhesion of Antibiotic-Resistant Uropathogens
- Amy B. Howell, PhD
-
Marucci Center for Blueberry and Cranberry Research
Rutgers University
Chatsworth, NJ
- Betsy Foxman, PhD
-
Department of Epidemiology
University of Michigan School of Public Health
Ann Arbor
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- cranberry
- drug resistance
- escherichia coli
- preventive medicine
- urinary tract infections
- vaccinium macrocarpon
To the Editor: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) account for more than 11 million physician visits annually in the United States and have become increasingly resistant to first-line antibiotic therapy.1 Recent evidence suggests that consumption of cranberry juice beverages is effective at preventing UTIs,2-3 although further studies are needed to validate potential treatment effects. While early research focused on a mechanism of urinary acidification, the largest clinical trial to date found no evidence to support this.2 Recent studies suggest that cranberry proanthocyanidins (condensed tannins) may inhibit P-fimbriated Escherichia coli from adhering to uroepithelial cells,4 the initial step in development of UTI. The effectiveness of cranberry proanthocyanidins and cranberry beverages against antibiotic-resistant E coli, however, has not been previously tested. We assessed whether consumption of cranberry juice cocktail prevents adhesion of antibiotic-resistant uropathogenic P-fimbriated E coli to the uroepithelium.
Methods
Thirty-nine uropathogenic P-fimbriated E coli isolates …
