Differences in the composition of the bacterial element of the urinary tract microbiome in patients undergoing dialysis and patients after kidney transplantation

Marcelina M Jaworska; Paulina Pecyna; Katarzyna Jaskiewicz; Małgorzata Rydzanicz; Malgorzata Kaluzna; Krzysztof Pawlaczyk; Rafal Ploski; Dorota M Nowak-Malczewska; Justyna A Karolak; Marzena Gajecka

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2023.1187625

Differences in the composition of the bacterial element of the urinary tract microbiome in patients undergoing dialysis and patients after kidney transplantation

Front Microbiol. 2023 Jun 7:14:1187625. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1187625. eCollection 2023.

Affiliations

¹ Chair and Department of Genetics and Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland.
² Institute of Human Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan, Poland.
³ Department of Medical Genetics, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
⁴ Chair and Department of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Internal Diseases, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland.
⁵ Department of Nephrology, Transplantology and Internal Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland.

Abstract

Introduction: The development of molecular biology methods and their application in microbial research allowed the detection of many new pathogens that cause urinary tract infections (UTIs). Despite the advances of using new research techniques, the etiopathogenesis of UTIs, especially in patients undergoing dialysis and patients after kidney transplantation, is still not fully understood.

Methods: This study aimed to characterize and compare the composition of the bacterial element of the urinary tract microbiome between the groups of patients undergoing dialysis (n = 50) and patients after kidney transplantation (n = 50), with positive or negative urine culture, compared to healthy individuals (n = 50).

Results: Asymptomatic bacteriuria was observed in 30% of the urine cultures of patients undergoing dialysis and patients after kidney transplantation, with Escherichia coli as the most dominant microorganism (73%) detected with the use of classical microbiology techniques. However, differences in the bacterial composition of the urine samples between the evaluated patient groups were demonstrated using the amplicon sequencing. Finegoldia, Leptotrichia, and Corynebacterium were found to be discriminative bacteria genera in patients after dialysis and kidney transplantation compared to the control group. In addition, in all of urine samples, including those without bacteriuria in classical urine culture, many types of bacteria have been identified using 16S rRNA sequencing.

Discussion: The revealed microbial characteristics may form the basis in searching for new diagnostic markers in treatment of patients undergoing dialysis and patients after kidney transplantation.

Keywords: dialysis; renal transplantation; urinary tract infection; urine culture; urobiome.