[Immunofluorescence study of bacteriuria. A new technic for the localization of urinary infection].

The detection by immunofluorescence of immunoglobulins fixed to the wall of urinary bacteria makes it possible to localise the site of the urinary infection. The presence of immunoglobulins was noted in 18 out of 19 patients with a high urinary tract infection involving the renal parenchyma. They were absent in 25 out of 28 subjects with a lower urinary tract infection. The three apparently discordant positive reaction involved 1 case of prostatitis and two cases in which the diagnosis of pyelonephritis was made later. In the case of renal involvement, these immunoglobulins, essentially IgG, are seen with greater frequency than humoral antibodies. Whilst the biological significance of these immunoglobulins remains uncertain, their existence probably being a reflection of parenchymatous inflammation, this nevertheless is a new and, apparently, reliable, method for the determination of the site of an infective process.