Magazine

Urinary tract infections account for the third most common type of infectious pathology after respiratory and gastrointestinal processes. The agent responsible for such urinary tract infections is in most cases the bacterium Escherichia coli that migrates from the intestine and invades the urinary tract. In a recent publication in Microbial Physiology, Dr Emanuela Esposito, of the University of Messina, under the direction of Professor Salvatore Cuzzocrea, has seen in a study conducted in rats infected with E coli as their intestinal and urinary bacterial load is significantly reduced when they are previously treated with xyloglucan alone or with xyloglucan combined with gelose. Similarly, histological lesions in the intestinal and urinary wall resulting from infection are reduced. It is thus confirmed that these polymeric substances create a physical barrier that reduces intestinal reservoirs of pathogenic bacteria supporting their beneficial role in the treatment and prevention of urinary tract infections. The marketed products containing these substances in their composition can thus see their totally innovative mode of action fully explained.