Rational design and testing of new urease inhibitors to prevent urinary catheter blockage.

Catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) caused by urease-positive organisms can lead to catheter blockage: urease metabolizes urea in urine to ammonia causing an increase in pH and hence precipitation of struvite and apatite salts into the catheter lumen and bladder leading to blockage. Acetohydroxamic acid (AHA) is the only urease inhibitor currently approved for patient use, however, it is rarely used owing to its side effects. Here, we report the identification and development of new urease inhibitors discovered using a rational drug design approach.

Mold Odor from Wood Treated with Chlorophenols despite Mold Growth That Can Only Be Seen Using a Microscope.

We previously reported that indoor odorous chloroanisoles (CAs) are still being emitted due to microbial methylation of hazardous chlorophenols (CPs) present in legacy wood preservatives. Meanwhile, Swedish researchers reported that this malodor, described since the early 1970s, is caused by hazardous mold. Here, we examined to what extent CP-treated wood contains mold and if mold correlates with perceived odor.

A new catheter-integrated drug-delivery system for controlled intravesical mitomycin C release.

Background: Intravesical treatment of bladder cancer is preferred over systemic administration. However, the efficacy of intravesical instillations is challenged by the periodic voiding that flushes out the instilled drug and ultimately reduces drug exposure to the bladder epithelium. Here, we demonstrate a new catheter-integrated drug-delivery concept that utilizes a silicone-based interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) as material for the catheter balloon, to facilitate continuous release of the bladder cancer adjuvant, Mitomycin C, from a balloon-reservoir to the urinary bladder.

Enhanced Antibiotic Tolerance of an Multispecies Uropathogen Biofilm Model, Useful for Studies of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections.

Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) are a common clinical concern as they can lead to severe, persistent infections or bacteremia in long-term catheterized patients. This type of CAUTI is difficult to eradicate, as they are caused by multispecies biofilms that may have reduced susceptibility to antibiotics. Many new strategies to tackle CAUTI have been proposed in the past decade, including antibiotic combination treatments, surface modification and probiotic usage.