T. Nakagawa et al., INCREASE IN LECTIN-BINDING SITES ON EPITHELIAL-CELLS BY CHRONIC BLADDER INFECTION IN RATS, Urologia internationalis, 56(2), 1996, pp. 90-95
Using lectin histochemistry we assessed whether chronic bladder infect
ion modifies carbohydrate residues of glycoconjugates on uroepithelial
cells in rats. The bladder infection was produced by implanting a kno
tted silk thread with Escherichia coli into the bladder. One or 4 week
s after the implantation the bladder was excised, incubated with sixte
en biotinylated lectins and stained. The bladder epithelia as a whole
stained more strongly positive for eight lectins in the infected rats
than in the control rats having a sterile silk thread in the bladder.
In the infected rats, the superficial epithelial layer that stained ne
gative for Arachis hypogaea (PNA) in the controls became strongly posi
tive for PNA, whereas the middle and deep epithelial layers increased
in staining for Canavalia ensiformis and six other lectins. These resu
lts indicate that chronic bladder infection increases carbohydrate res
idues on uroepithelial cells and may facilitate bacterial adherence to
uroepithelial cells.