Common urinary tract infections are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, but researchers have identified an experimental drug that may boost the body's ability to fight UTIs.
A team of researchers from two University of California-San Diego schools — the School of Medicine and the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences — explored an experimental drug's ability to boost the innate immune response to uropathogenic E.coli bacteria, which is one major cause of UTIs.
The drug they tested is known for stabilizing a protein called HIF-1 alpha, which acts as the body's first line of defense against intruding pathogens.
In the UCSD experiments using a mouse model of UTI, the HIF-1alpha-stabilizing drugs increased HIF-1alpha levels, making the cells more resistant to UPEC attachment, invasion and killing than cells with normal HIF-1alpha levels. Additionally, the invasion of bladder cells, a critical early step in the infection process, was reduced in the mice treated with the experimental drug compared to untreated mice.
"The ultimate goal of this research will be to advance HIF-1alpha stabilizers toward clinical trials in humans, using versions of the drug that can be taken orally and reach the urinary tract," said Victor Nizet, MD, professor of pediatrics and pharmacy and study author.
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