Collaborating for the Advancement of Interdisciplinary Research in Benign Urology
Aging leads to a progressive decline in overall bladder function resulting in lower urinary tract symptoms and increased susceptibility to infections. However, tissue-specific mechanisms of aging, specifically the contributions of the aged urothelium remain elusive.
Older men frequently develop lower urinary tract symptoms attributed to benign prostatic hyperplasia (LUTS/BPH). Risk factors for LUTS/BPH include sedentary lifestyle, anxiety/depression, obesity, and frailty, which all increase with age. Although physical exercise may reduce the progression and/or severity of LUTS/BPH, the age-related mechanisms responsible remain unknown.
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the most common urologic condition in elderly men, characterized by the reactivation of developmental programs such as prostatic budding and branching. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this reactivation in BPH remain unclear.
Macrophages exhibit marked phenotypic heterogeneity within and across disease states, with lipid metabolic reprogramming contributing to macrophage activation and heterogeneity. Chronic inflammation has been observed in human benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) tissues, however macrophage activation states and their contributions to this hyperplastic disease have not been defined.
Dr. Jill Macoska, a collaborator with the UW-Madison George M. O'Brien Center, is serving as Guest Editor for Scientific Reports(5-year IF=4.3) and putting together a special edition for fibrosis research. This collection will offer researchers an important platform to showcase new discoveries and innovative approaches in one of the most pressing areas of biomedical science.
A non-exhaustive list of publications authored by CAIRIBU Urobiome RIG participants from 2021 to 2023. Publication dates range from 2015 to August 2023.
In this review, we present a set of poorly understood, emerging, and suspected uropathogens. The goal is to stimulate research into the biology of these microbes with a focus on their life as commensals and their transition into pathogens.
Despite the high incidence of UTI diagnoses, the high cost of UTI treatment, and increasing concerns associated with antimicrobial resistance, the development of novel and more accurate UTI tests has not been considered a priority, in part due to the general perception that current UTI care is already sufficient. In this review, we discuss the importance of improving UTI diagnostic testing to improve treatment outcomes.
This video provides an overview of the National Microbiome Data Collaborative's mission. Following this introduction, Dr. Lisa Karstens (Oregon Health & Science University) describes the data life cycle and what metadata is and how metadata standards can be adapted for urobiome research.
Urobiome research has the potential to advance the understanding of a wide range of diseases, including lower urinary tract symptoms and kidney disease. Many scientific areas have benefited from early research method consensus to facilitate the greater, common good. This consensus document, developed by a group of expert investigators currently engaged in urobiome research (UROBIOME 2020 conference participants), aims to promote standardization and advances in this field by the adoption of common core research practices.
