Bacterial Metallophores in the Diagnosis of Acute Pyelonephritis

The project aims to investigate bacterial metallophores as potential diagnostic markers of acute pyelonephritis and complicated urinary tract infections. These secondary metabolites are excreted by pathogenic microorganims in the course of infection for the uptake of iron and other metallic ions from the host. They are species-specific and can be detected in body fluids (including urine) by mass spectrometry. The potential contribution of this project is a culture-independent method for the diagnosis of the causative microbiological agent.