Obesity promotes urinary tract infection by disrupting bladder focal adhesion kinase signaling.

ABSTRACT: Obesity is a significant public health concern associated with numerous health risks. Infections are a major complication of obesity, but the mechanisms driving increased infection risk remain unclear. Using a diet-induced obesity mouse model in male and female C57BL/6 mice, we show that high-fat diet feeding heightens vulnerability to uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) urinary tract infection. Transcriptomic analysis of bladder urothelial cells revealed sex-specific gene expression changes with the shared activation of focal adhesion and extracellular matrix pathways. Western blotting and immunostaining confirmed focal adhesion kinase activation, a central component of the focal adhesion pathway, in the bladders of obese female and male mice. In primary human urothelial cells, focal adhe

SUBMITTER: Schwartz L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12637249 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature