Evaluation of interleukin-10 production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa induced acute pyelonephritis

Summary 

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen of immunocompromised hosts. This pathogen has a tendency to form biofilms on the surface of indwelling catheters leading to acute and chronic urinary tract infections that result in significant morbidity and mortality. In the present study, kinetics of interleukin-10 (IL-10) production in mouse renal tissue was studied employing experimental mouse model of acute pyelonephritis induced with planktonic and biofilm cells of P. aeruginosa. IL-10 production was found to be significantly lower in biofilm cell instilled mice compared to planktonic cell infected animals, which corroborated with higher bacterial load and tissue damage. The data suggests that downregulation of IL-10 production may be novel strategy employed by biofilm cells to cause tissue damage and hence bacterial persistence. The results of the present study may open up avenues of research that will ultimately provide the foundation for the development of preventative measures and therapeutic strategies to successfully treat P. aeruginosa biofilm infections based on the administration of anti-inflammatory agents.

Keywords: IL-10, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Biofilms, Pyelonephritis