Caspase-like activity is associated with bacterial infection of the urine in urinary tract diseases.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a serious public health problem. They can be caused by a number of pathogens, but the most common are Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus saprophyticus. Bacterial infection is diagnosed by examining a urine sample. The presence of bacteria or white blood cells is determined under a microscope or a urine culture is performed. In this study, we used a panel of chromogenic substrates for the qualitative determination of specific enzyme activity in the urine of patients with confirmed bacterial infection and/or urinary tract disease. Healthy patients were used as a control group. It turned out that in the case of Escherichia coli infection, we observed the activity of the caspase subunit of the human 20S proteasome. We did not observe similar correlations for infections with other types of bacteria.