Experimental urinary tract infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa in mice

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Abstract
Urinary tract infection with P. aeruginosa was induced in mice by transurethral inoculation of the organism into the bladder, followed by urethral obstruction for 6 h. The infection was mostly localized in the urinary organs. P. aeruginosa P9 was selected as the challenge organism from 10 laboratory strains of P. aeruginosa. After the inoculation of 107 colony-forming units [cfu] of P. aeruginosa P9, transient bacteremia was observed in some of the mice from 6 h to 1 day after the inoculation. The number of organisms in the bladder tissue gradually decreased, whereas that in the kidneys increased to levels of 106-107 cfu in 3 days, and these levels remained up to 2 wk after the inoculation. The organisms gradually disappeared thereafter, and spontaneous recovery took place. The organisms could be recovered from the kidneys of 95% of the mice, and the gross lesions in the kidneys were observed in 77% of the mice 1 wk after inoculation. The method developed is simple and may be useful in the study of urinary tract infections due to P. aeruginosa and other bacteria.