Skip to main content
Download PDF
- Main
Urinary Uromodulin and Risk of Urinary Tract Infections: The Cardiovascular Health Study
Published Web Location
https://doi.org/10.1053/j.ajkd.2016.08.022Abstract
Background
Laboratory studies suggest that urinary uromodulin, the most common protein in the urine of healthy adults, may protect against urinary tract infection (UTI). Epidemiologic studies evaluating this relationship in humans are lacking.Study design
Prospective longitudinal cohort study.Setting & participants
953 participants enrolled in the Cardiovascular Health Study.Predictor
Uromodulin assayed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in spot urine samples.Outcomes
Composite of outpatient UTI events or UTI-related hospitalizations and each of them individually identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes using negative binomial regression with robust standard errors adjusted for age, race, sex, body mass index, diabetes, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and urinary albumin and urinary creatinine excretion.Results
Median uromodulin level was 25.9 (IQR, 17.3-38.9) μg/mL, mean age of participants was 78 years, 61% were women, and 15% were black. There were 331 outpatient UTI events and 87 UTI-related hospitalizations among 186 participants during a median 9.9 years of follow-up. Persons in the highest quartile (>38.93μg/mL) of uromodulin concentration had a significantly lower risk for the composite outcome (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 0.47; 95% CI, 0.29-0.79) compared with those in the lowest quartile (≤17.26μg/mL). This association remained significant for outpatient UTI events (highest vs lowest quartile even after excluding those with prior UTI: IRR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.23-0.77). The direction of association with UTI hospitalization was similar, but not statistically significant (IRR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.39-1.58).Limitations
Use of ICD-9 codes to identify outcomes and lack of generalizability to younger populations.Conclusions
High urinary uromodulin levels are associated with lower risk for UTI in older community-dwelling adults independent of traditional UTI risk factors. This finding supports prior laboratory data indicating a protective role of uromodulin against UTI. Further research is needed to understand if this may lead to new treatments to prevent or treat UTI.Many UC-authored scholarly publications are freely available on this site because of the UC's open access policies. Let us know how this access is important for you.
Main Content
For improved accessibility of PDF content, download the file to your device.
Enter the password to open this PDF file:
File name:
-
File size:
-
Title:
-
Author:
-
Subject:
-
Keywords:
-
Creation Date:
-
Modification Date:
-
Creator:
-
PDF Producer:
-
PDF Version:
-
Page Count:
-
Page Size:
-
Fast Web View:
-
Preparing document for printing…
0%