Effect of contraceptives on the adhesion of Escherichia coli to uroepithelial cells.

We studied the effect of female ovarian hormones present in contraceptive preparations on six strains of Escherichia coli isolated from patients with urinary tract infections. These strains had variable attachment potential. To study this effect in vivo, we gave a woman an oral contraceptive preparation and then compared the amount of attachment to her uroepithelial cells before and after hormone administration. To study the in vitro effect, we exposed uroepithelial cells from this same woman to different hormone concentrations for up to 18 hr and noticed any alteration in adhesion. We observed that in vivo as well as in vitro exposure of uroepithelial cells to hormones enhanced the adhesion of all E. coli strains.