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MICROBIOME IN 2018

Urobiome updates: advances in urinary microbiome research

Nature Reviews Urology volume 16, pages 73–74 (2019)Cite this article

Subjects

Since the discovery and confirmation of the human urobiome, highly influential studies to characterize this microbial community and understand how it relates to human health and disease have been undertaken. Technological advances will improve information about the status of the urobiome for clinicians.

Key advances

  • Lactobacillus predominance does not differ between adult women with mixed urinary incontinence and age-matched asymptomatic women, but some members of the genus Lactobacillus might be associated with urinary symptoms5.

  • Preoperative assessment of the urinary microbiome could reduce bothersome urinary symptoms following surgery and reduce risk of perioperative urinary tract infection6.

  • Public databases are inadequate for studies of the urobiome and its relationship to bladder health and disease because these databases lack urobiome-specific genomes7.

  • Men with more severe urinary symptoms are more likely to have detectable bladder bacteria than those with less severe or no symptoms. Voided urine does not adequately characterize the male bladder urobiome, and catheterized urine should be used instead8.

  • The urobiome differs between individuals with bladder cancer and those without10.

Evidence of microbial communities in the urinary tract (the urinary microbiome or urobiome) surfaced less than a decade ago. Since then, multiple investigators have confirmed this finding1. More recent studies are now focused on characterizing the urobiome and its associations with human health and disease. Technological advances will provide improved information about the status of the urobiome to clinicians; these changes will inform the care of multiple common urinary conditions linked to changes in the urobiome.

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Fig. 1: Functional diversity between genomes of bacterial strains isolated from the bladder, vagina and intestine.

References

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by NIH grant 5R01DK104718-03 to A.J.W. and L.B.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL, USA

    Alan J. Wolfe

  2. Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Division of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Linda Brubaker

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  1. Alan J. Wolfe
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Correspondence to Alan J. Wolfe.

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Competing interests

A.J.W. discloses Investigator Initiated Study funds from Astellas Scientific and Medical Affairs and Kimberly Clark Corporation. L.B. discloses editorial stipends from JAMA, Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery and UpToDate.

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Wolfe, A.J., Brubaker, L. Urobiome updates: advances in urinary microbiome research. Nat Rev Urol 16, 73–74 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-018-0127-5

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