If you are peeing cellulose, you´ve got a problem
When you think of cellulose you probably think of plants. This strong polymer is the main constituent of dietary fibre meaning it can’t be digested by humans and you certainly wouldn’t expect to find it in human cells.
But plants aren’t the only lifeforms to produce cellulose, some bacteria do as well, especially when they’re causing an infection. Cellulose present in your urine could be an indication of infection, even if bacteria cannot be grown.
This is because bacteria produce cellulose when they grow in very specific conditions called a biofilm. It makes them very sticky and harder to get rid of, especially when they are hiding in the urinary tract. Bacteria growing in biofilms are also more resistant to antibiotics.
Researchers at the Swedish Medical Nanoscience Center at Karolinska Institutet have developed a simple to perform test for cellulose in urine. They started by cultivating bacteria that produced cellulose and developing a luminescent probe to detect it. They then tested the probe in urine from patients at Karolinska Hospital.
The test worked. It was able to detect even low quantities of cellulose in clinical samples, even after the bacteria had been washed away.
This important assay could be the key to diagnosing chronic and recurrent urinary tract infections as well as helping guide effective treatment regimens.
Author: Ben Libberton