An examination of the anti-adherence activity of cranberry juice on urinary and nonurinary bacterial isolates.

In a previous investigation it was demonstrated that cranberry juice cocktail was able to inhibit adherence in 77 clinical isolates of Escherichia coli obtained from patients with diagnosed urinary tract infections. This work has been extended to include clinical isolates of E. coli, Proteus, Klebsiella, Enterobacter and Pseudomonas isolated from urine, sputum, wound and stool. Bacterial strains isolated from urine adhere in greater numbers to urinary tract epithelial cells than organisms isolated from sputum, stool and wound sources. E. coli, isolated from urine, adheres to urinary epithelial cells, in numbers three times greater than E. coli isolated from other clinical sources, and thus appears to represent a unique population of cells in terms of adherence. Cranberry juice cocktail and urine and urinary epithelial cells obtained after drinking the cocktail all demonstrate antiadherence activity against Gram-negative rods isolated from urine and other clinical sources. Drinking the cocktail may be useful in managing urinary tract infections in certain patients.