Experimental prostatitis in nonhuman primates: I. Bacterial adherence in the urethra.

Both man and monkey possess urothelial (transitional cell) receptors for P-fimbriae of Escherichia coli; however, the male urethra has pseudostratified columnar cells. We studied adherence using scanning electron microscopy and found that P-fimbriae were the principal mediators of adherence to these cells as well. The monkey, therefore, should be a good model for the study of the ascending route of infection in prostatitis, the route thought to occur in man.