Sex-based differences influence incidence and outcome of infectious disease. Women have a significantly greater incidence of urinary tract infection UTI than men, yet, conversely, male UTI is more persistent, with greater associated morbidity.
Mechanisms underlying these sex-based differences are unknown, in part due to a lack of experimental models. We optimized a model to transurethrally infect male mice and directly compared UTI in both sexes.
Although both sexes were initially equally colonized by uropathogenic E. Accordingly, neutralizing IL abolished resolution in female mice, identifying a cytokine pathway necessary for bacterial clearance. Our findings support the concept that sex-based responses to UTI contribute to impaired innate immunity in males and provide a rationale for non—antibiotic-based immune targeting to improve the response to UTI.
Go to The Journal of Clinical Investigation. Citations to this article. Sex differences in IL contribute to chronicity in male versus female urinary tract infection. View: Text PDF. Research Article Immunology Infectious disease. Text PDF. Loading citation information Sign up for email alerts.
