-
American Journal of Kidney Diseases :... Jan 2024Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are some of the most commonly encountered infections in clinical practice. Accurate diagnosis and evidence-based treatment of UTIs will... (Review)
Review
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are some of the most commonly encountered infections in clinical practice. Accurate diagnosis and evidence-based treatment of UTIs will lead to better clinical care for many patients and limit unnecessary antibiotic use. Urinalysis and urine cultures are helpful tools in the diagnosis of UTIs; however, it is important to recognize their limitations. Differentiating between asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) and true UTI is important because antibiotics are unnecessary in most nonpregnant patients with ASB and can even potentially cause harm if prescribed. Choice and duration of antibiotics varies across the spectrum of UTI syndromes such as acute uncomplicated cystitis, pyelonephritis, prostatitis, and catheter-associated UTIs. The treatment approach also depends on patients' degree of immunosuppression and their genitourinary anatomy. Therefore, patients with urological obstruction or kidney transplants may require a specialized and multidisciplinary management approach. For individuals prone to frequent UTIs, some preventative measures can be utilized, yet there is often not a "one size fits all" approach.
Topics: Male; Humans; Urinary Tract Infections; Bacteriuria; Urinalysis; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Curriculum
PubMed: 37906240
DOI: 10.1053/j.ajkd.2023.08.009 -
Cancers Oct 2023More and more studies have focused on the associations between human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and pan-cancers. However, current evidence is largely based on...
INTRODUCTION
More and more studies have focused on the associations between human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and pan-cancers. However, current evidence is largely based on retrospective studies, which are susceptible to confounding factors and do not enable the establishment of causal relationships.
METHODS
A bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) design was employed to thoroughly evaluate the causal relationships between HPV and 12 site-specific cancers except cervical cancer. Single nucleoside polymers (SNPs) with strong evidence from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were selected from HPV exposure datasets and used as instrumental variables (IVs) in this study. For the MR analysis results, MR-Egger's intercept P test, MR-PRESSO global test, Cochran's Q test and a leave-one-out test were applied for sensitivity analysis. Using HPVTIMER, we also performed immune infiltration analyses in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) and vulval squamous cell carcinoma (VSCC) to evaluate the tumor-immune microenvironment.
RESULTS
Based on the evidence of MR analysis, our study conclusively identified HPV16 as a risk factor implicated in the development of bladder cancer, colorectal cancer, and breast cancer, while HPV18 was identified as a risk factor for prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, lung cancer and breast cancer. The MR results also showed that HPV16 may be a protective factor for prostate cancer, anal cancer, lung cancer and oropharyngeal cancer, while HPV18 may be a protective factor for vaginal cancer.
CONCLUSION
An HPV infection may modulate the immune microenvironment and therefore has a potential inhibitory effect on the development of certain cancers. These conclusions provided new insights into the potential mechanisms of carcinogenesis and needed further research for validation.
PubMed: 37958321
DOI: 10.3390/cancers15215147