Effectiveness of Probiotics for the Treatment of Urinary Tract Infection among Women in Bangladesh

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) occurs more in women than men. Escherichia coli are responsible in most cases. The microbial (Lactobacillus) species which inhabit in the vaginal tract play an important role in the prevention of infection. Irrational use of antibiotics contributes to changes in antibiotic susceptibility patterns of pathogens. Hence, the administration of probiotics exogenously may cause colonization of Lactobacillus in female urogenital organs. The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of probiotics in the treatment of UTI among women in Bangladesh. This interventional, prospective, non-randomized trial was conducted among women suffering from UTI in the department of Pharmacology and Gynecology of Uttara Adhunik Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh from January 2019 to June 2021. A total of 162 women who suffered from UTI were enrolled to receive probiotic, antibiotic and probiotic+antibiotic treatments. Urine culture and sensitivity tests of all participants were done during enrollment. Patients came for follow-up visits on day 30 of completion of therapy and the final study population was 132. Among the 132 participants, the mean ages were 34.23 ± 14.28 years (mean ± SD). The average duration of UTI prior to enrollment was 77.61 ± 288.59 days. 93.18% of patients complained burning sensation of urination, pain or pressure in the back or lower abdomen (67.42%) and fever (37.12%), respectively. During enrollment, the urine R/M/E test revealed that most of the urine samples showed no growth of organisms (84.8%) and E. coli (09.85%). The most commonly used antibiotic was nitrofurantoin (43.33%), cefixime (18.88%) and ciprofloxacin (18.88%). During follow-up, urine sample culture revealed no growth of pathogenic organisms in 131 (99.24%) and E. coli in one patient who was treated with only probiotics. The present study revealed that the use of probiotics is effective and safe in treating UTIs in women in Bangladesh.