Experimental pyelonephritis. XVI. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus infections in mice and the effect of "water diuresis".

Water diuresis has different effects on the outcome of urinary infections in rodents depending on the test organism, the route of inoculation, and the species of animal used. In rats, the production of pyelonephritis following hematogenous inoculation of Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans or Streptococcus fecaelis was prevented or cured by water diuresis."' The possible mechanisms by which diuresis exerts its beneficial effects include: increasing the speed with which leukocytes are mobilized to sites within the kidney where bacteria are deposited;' aiding the process of phagocytosis per se;' or delivering greater amounts of blood-borne defense factors such as complement and antibody.! On the other hand, water diuresis interfered with the clearance of E. coli inoculated directly into the bladder lumen of ratse and, in mice, resulted in severe pyelonephritis with papillary necrosis.' In the present study, the effect of water diuresis on both hematogenous and direct bladder injections was tested in mice using Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus to determine whether the discrepancy in the effect of water diuresis was a result of species difference, test organisms, or route of inoculation. Because it was observed that fluid intake was severely interrupted following bacterial challenge, the effect of direct bladder inoculation of Escherichia coli on the intake of tap water or 5 percent glucose was re-examined and correlated with bacterial clearance from the bladder urine.