Assessment of Urinary Tract Infection and Anti Lactoferrin Antibodies Levels in Iraqi Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that may be triggered by urinary tract infection (UTI) especially if they are investigated in the presence of lactoferrin antibodies. The objective is to determine anti lactoferrin antibodies in RA and its association with urinary tract infection. Out of 162 autoimmunity Iraqi patients, UTI and levels of anti lactoferrin antibodies were assessed in 98 (60.49 %) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), compared with 30 apparently healthy control and 74.48 % were observed to have UTI, the predominant bacteria identified as a cause of UTI; Proteus spp. was present as a single causative pathogen in 58.90 %, while E. coli was observed in 17.80 %. Anti lactoferrin antibodies were significantly higher in RA patients was observed in UTI+ve versus UTI-ve cases in total patients compared with healthy control that P value (≤0.05).