[Occurence, significance and clinical consequences of lipid A antibody titers in patients with urinary tract infection (author's transl)].

Lipid A antibody titers were measured by the passive hemolysis test in 349 humans. In two out of 20 healthy adults and 16 out of 18 children with recurrent urinary tract infection (UTI) in the presence of anomalies anti-lipid A antibodies were present. In contrast, no titers were found in 23 newborn babies. In a group of 156 patients with acute UTI, 28% revealed positive titers, whereas in a group of 132 patients with recurrent UTI titers occurred in 81%. In a selected group of 132 patients with recurrent infections of the upper tract 59 (=96%) showed definite titers. There was no difference in the development of anti-lipid A antibodies between men and women and the height of the titers did not correlate with the clinical picture of the disease (acute or chronic). The combination of proteinuria and anti-lipid A antibodies indicates the presence of recurrent UTI or chronic pyelonephritis with about 90% accuracy. The titers are caused by immunogenically active lipid A in the body. Since lipid A has the ability to remain in the renal tissue for a long period of time and thereby to maintain the inflamatory response, long-term antimicrobial prophylaxis (six months) should be given to patients with a high risk of recurrent UTI.