Manipulating the Gut Microbiome in Urinary Tract Infection-Prone Patients

Abstract

Although antibiotics remain the mainstay of UTI treatment, many affected women can be caught in a vicious cycle in which antibiotics given to eradicate one infection predispose them to develop another. This effect appears to be primarily mediated by disturbances in the gut microbiome which both directly enrich for uropathogenic overgrowth and can induce systemic alterations in inflammation, tissue permeability and metabolism that also decrease host resistance to infection recurrences. Here, we discuss non-antibiotic approaches to manipulating the gut microbiome to reverse the systemic consequences of antibiotics, including cranberry supplementation and other dietary approaches, probiotic administration and fecal microbiota transplantation.