Most people know that microorganisms live on our skin, and in other places in the body such as the digestive tract. However, traditional thinking and medical teaching was that there was no such microbiome in the urinary tract. Many people may still believe that urine is sterile. Advanced detection methods such as enhanced urine cultures and DNA sequencing have shown that this is not true. Read more.
Source: Harvard Health Blog, August 12, 2020
More sensitive cultivation methods and precise 16S rRNA gene sequencing techniques have revealed that the human bladder hosts a significant microbiome and those diverse bacteria inside the bladder impact pediatric urologic diseases. As recently as one decade ago, the human bladder was thought to be a sterile landscape. In recent years that view has shifted radically, opening brand-new fields of research aimed at clarifying the role the microbiome plays in common urologic diseases that affect children, according to a review article published online Feb. 22, 2018, by Current Urology Reports. “There is a growing appreciation for the role of diverse bacteria in contributing to improved health as well as triggering disease processes or exacerbating illness,” says Michael H. Hsieh, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Clinic for Adolescent and Adult Pediatric Onset Urology (CAPITUL) at Children’s National Health System and study senior author. Read more.
Source: Medical Xpress, APril 5, 2018