Acta Microbiologica Hellenica
Integrated Host IL-6 Axis, IL6R rs2228145, and Uropathogenic Escherichia coli Virulence Profiling in Obesity and Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection
By Zahra K Saeed, Hibbat Al-Rahman R. Rickad and Basil A. Abbas.
Abstract
Background
Obesity-related inflammation and bacterial virulence may contribute to recurrent urinary tract infection (UTI). Examining inflammatory markers, host genetic variation and bacterial characteristics together may help clarify their associations.
Objective
The objective of this study is to compare IL-6 and soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL-6R) levels and IL6R rs2228145 genotype distributions among peoples with obesity and normal weight, explore genotype–biomarker associations, and characterize urinary Escherichia coli isolates.
Methods
Eighty participants with a reported history of recurrent UTI—40 with obesity and 40 with normal weight—were included in this cross-sectional study. Blood and urine specimens from the same participants were examined by ELISA, DNA-based genotyping, urine culture and bacterial quantitative PCR (qPCR). Two selected uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) isolates underwent whole-genome sequencing (WGS).