Posted on 07/15/2010 12:45:31 PM PDT by decimon
Revealing the science behind the homespun advice, a team of researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has identified and measured the molecular forces that enable cranberry juice to fight off urinary tract infections in people.
The data is reported in the paper "Direct adhesion force measurements between E. coli and human uroepithelial cells in cranberry juice cocktail," which was published on-line, ahead of print, by the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research. The research illuminates the basic mechanics of E. coli infections, which has implications for developing new antibiotic drugs and infection-resistant materials for invasive medical devices.
The research team led by Terri Camesano, professor of chemical engineering at WPI, focuses on the virulent form of E. coli bacteria that is the primary cause of most urinary tract infections. This strain of E. coli is covered with small hair-like projections known as fimbriae which act like hooks and latch onto cells that line the urinary tract. When enough of the virulent E. coli adhere to cells in this way, they cause an infection. Previous work by Camesano has shown that exposure to cranberry juice causes the fimbriae on E. coli to curl up, reducing their ability to attach to urinary tract cells. In the new study, Camesano's team presents the first specific measurements of the mechanical forces involved in the attachment of the virulent E. coli to human urinary tract cells. The study also documents how the force of attachment is reduced in the presence of cranberry juice cocktail. "This is not a clinical study—it's a mechanical study that shows us the direct forces that can lead to infection," Camesano said.
(Excerpt) Read more at wpi.edu ...
Ping
I had a terrible bug at one time. The Cranberry juice calmed eveything down....but still...the most important thing is “don’t eat until your system has cleaned itself out”.
2 oz Vodka
Pour Vodka and Cranberry Juice into shaker. Fill a Highball glass almost full of ice cubes, and dump ice into shaker.
Shake well and pour drink into Highball glass. Garnish with a Lime Wedge
Must be all the Herbal Tinctures(I think there's 19 different ones in the top shelf stuff).
Cranberry juice also was responsible for catching a criminal pervert some years back, I recall. This guy was slipping girls the date rape drug, which left them unable to recall what he had done to them. But one girl had been drinking quantities of cranberry juice because of a UTI, and, for reasons I no longer recall, was thus made less susceptible to the loss of memory of the incident. So she was able to help identify the perp.
Add some Cointreau and some lime juice, shake, and strain into a martini glass.
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