Chronic UTI Pain Could Be Caused by Overgrown Nerves
Urinary tract infection symptoms can resurface long after bacteria are gone. A new study suggests nerve growth is to blame
A colored scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of Escherichia coli bacteria on bladder epithelial cells found in a urine sample from a person with a urinary tract infection (UTI).
Steve Gschmeissner/Science Source
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the world’s most common bacterial maladies. Approximately 12 percent of men and roughly half of all women experience a UTI in their lifetime. Up to 44 percent of women who get a UTI develop a second infection within six months. And for some, painful UTI symptoms recur and become chronic—even after the infection has cleared and the harmful bacteria are no longer present in the urinary tract.
Scientists have long puzzled over why UTI pain lingers in some people, but new research has just identified a likely cause: a study published Friday in Science Immunology describes how recurrent UTIs can lead to an overgrowth of pelvic nerve cells, which prolong the pain of an infection. The finding could have implications for future treatments and could help doctors avoid overprescribing antibiotics for seemingly stubborn UTIs.
“This is a really remarkable paper,” says Glenn Werneburg, a urologist at the Cleveland Clinic, who was not involved in the study.
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Soman Abraham, a Duke University pathologist and coauthor of the new study, says the new research began with a simple question: “Why do we see these UTI symptoms without necessarily seeing any bacteria in the urine of the patient?” To find out, he and his team examined bladder tissue biopsies from 25…
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