A urinary tract infection, or UTI, is an infection that occurs when bacteria gets into your urinary tract – kidneys, bladder, or urethra. The Urology Care Foundation has found that UTIs affect more than 8.1 million people each year. About 60 percent of women and 12 percent of men are likely to have at least one UTI during their lifetime. A study conducted by the University of Texas at Dallas has identified that a specific bacteria in the bladder may indicate recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs). Postmenopausal women are more susceptible to this bacteria. The study has also found that the female sex hormone estrogen may be vital in reducing that susceptibility.
“What we found is that those women who are in between infections — those with a history of recurrent UTIs but currently UTI negative — had a microbiome that was full of microorganisms capable of causing disease of the urinary tract while having fewer good bacteria,” Michael Neugent, the first author of the article said. He is also a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr Nicole De Nisco, assistant professor of biological sciences in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
When studying women who were taking estrogen therapy a clear contrast was seen. They did not have the “bad” bacteria in their bladders. Researchers have concluded that the greater amount of estrogen found in the urine, the more there is a predominance of good bacteria, such as Lactobacilli, in the microbiome.
This is crucial because it has been found that microbiomes of the women with recurrent UTIs contained more antibiotic resistance genes than their counterparts. These antibiotic resistance genes can be exchanged between cells. It creates the perfect environment that allows resistance to spread rapidly through a population of bacteria. Thus, the infections become more difficult to treat.
Dr De Nisco has found the biggest roadblock in treating UTI. It has been found that while antibiotics have been somewhat effective in fighting disease-causing bacteria, prescribed when they are not needed can accelerate antibiotic resistance.
Dr. Kelli Palmer, associate professor of biological sciences at UTD, has said that this study is groundbreaking because it addresses an often-overlooked demographic, that is the postmenopausal women. Dr De Nisco and her team have conducted this five-year longitudinal study to track the microbiomes of postmenopausal women over time. Their subjects included both, who experience recurrent UTIs and others with no UTI history.
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