Pseudomonas aeruginosa frequently acts as an opportunistic pathogen of mucosal surfaces; yet, despite causing aggressive prostatitis in some men, its role as a pathogen in the prostate has not been investigated. Consequently, we developed a Ps. aeruginosa infection model in the rat prostate by instilling wild-type (WT) Ps. aeruginosa strain PAO1 into the rat prostate. It was found that Ps. aeruginosa produced acute and chronic infections in this mucosal tissue as determined by bacterial colonization, gross morphology, tissue damage and inflammatory markers. WT strain PAO1 and its isogenic mutant PAO-JP2, in which both the lasI and rhlI quorum-sensing signal systems have been silenced, were compared during both acute and chronic prostate infections. In acute infections, bacterial numbers and inflammatory markers were comparable between WT PA01 and PAO-JP2; however, considerably less tissue damage occurred in infections with PAO-JP2. Chronic infections with PAO-JP2 resulted in reduced bacterial colonization, tissue damage and inflammation as compared to WT PAO1 infections. Therefore, the quorum-sensing lasI and rhlI genes in Ps. aeruginosa affect acute prostate infections, but play a considerably more important role in maintaining chronic infections. We have thus developed a highly reproducible model for the study of Ps. aeruginosa virulence in the prostate.

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