Περίληψη:
Recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) afflict a great number of
women around the world. The use of probiotics, especially lactobacilli,
has been considered for the prevention of UTIs. Since lactobacilli
dominate the urogenital flora of healthy premenopausal women, it has
been suggested that restoration of the urogenital flora, which is
dominated by uropathogens, with lactobacilli may protect against UTIs.
This review is based on a search of PubMed for relevant articles. Many
in vitro studies, animal experiments, microbiological studies in healthy
women, and clinical trials in women with UTIs have been carried out to
assess the effectiveness and safety of probiotics for prophylaxis
against uropathogens. Most of them had encouraging findings for some
specific strains of lactobacilli. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and L.
reuteri RC-14 (previously called L fermentum RC-14) seemed to be the
most effective among the studied lactobacilli for the prevention of
UTIs. L. casei shirota and L crispatus CTV-05 have also shown efficacy
in some studies. L. rhamnosus GG did not appear to be quite as effective
in the prevention of UTIs. The evidence from the available studies
suggests that probiotics can be beneficial for preventing recurrent UTIs
in women; they also have a good safety profile. However, further
research is needed to confirm these results before the widespread use of
probiotics for this indication can be recommended.
Συγγραφείς:
Falagas, Matthew E.
Betsi, Gregoria I.
Tokas, Theodoros and
Athanasiou, Stavros
