Urinary Tract Infection Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Urinary Tract Infection, including details on uti, causes, prevention, diet, treatment.

Mechanisms of renal damage owing to infection.

Jahnukainen T, Chen M, Celsi G

Department of Pediatrics, Turku University Hospital, Finland. timo.jahnukainen@tyks.fi

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common bacterial illness in children. It is known to be associated with an increased risk of permanent renal cell damage and scarring which may lead to generation of pathological conditions such as hypertension, pre-eclampsia during pregnancy, renal insufficiency, and end-stage kidney disease. The pathophysiology of renal scarring is still obscure, which makes the prevention of renal damage difficult. During acute infection, there are numerous factors that may contribute to tissue damage. Inflammatory responses are activated by host defense mechanisms as well as by specific bacterial virulence factors. Understanding of these complex mechanisms would be helpful to better identify children at high risk of developing renal scarring following UTI.

Published 8 July 2005 in Pediatr Nephrol, 20(8): 1043-53.
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