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This study compared the urinary microbiome of UTI patients and healthy individuals using publicly available 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing data to identify potential probiotic candidates. Differential abundance analysis identified Escherichia coli as the dominant species in UTI patients, while Lactobacillus crispatus was significantly enriched in healthy controls. Predictive functional analysis further revealed that metabolic pathways associated with beneficial microbial activity were more prevalent in the healthy group, supporting L. crispatus as a promising probiotic candidate for UTI prevention.
Why it matters
UTIs are the most common bacterial infections worldwide and are increasingly difficult to treat due to antimicrobial resistance, making probiotic-based alternatives a clinically relevant research priority. Identifying L. crispatus as a key uroprotective microorganism could inform the development of targeted probiotic formulations to reduce UTI recurrence without relying on antibiotics.
⚠️ Preprint – Noch nicht peer-reviewed
Dieser Artikel wurde noch nicht von unabhängigen Experten begutachtet. Die Ergebnisse sind vorläufig und sollten mit Vorsicht interpretiert werden.
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most prevalent bacterial infections globally, and their management increasingly challenged by antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Probiotics offer a promising approach to mitigate AMR by competitively excluding uropathogens and enhancing host immunity by producing immune modulators. Despite being potential, key gaps persist between the discovery of uroprotective probiotic strains and optimization of formulations for urinary tract delivery. Here, we analyzed the urinary microbiome of UTI patients and healthy individuals to identify potential probiotic candidates for the prevention and management of UTIs. Publicly available 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing data of the urinary tract were processed using a standardized pipeline for sequence quality assessment, taxonomic assignment, and microbial function prediction. Comparative analysis showed a significant shift in microbial composition between UTI patients and healthy controls. The dominated phyla identified included Acidobacteriota, Actinobacteriota, Bacteroidota, Campylobacterota, Cyanobacteria, Firmicutes, Fusobacteriota, Patescibacteria, Proteobacteria, and Synergistota. Overall differential abundance analysis revealed Escherichia coli as the predominant UTI-associated species, while Lactobacillus crispatus was enriched in healthy samples. Additionally, predictive functional analysis indicated that metabolic pathways associated with beneficial microbes were enriched in the healthy group. Overall, the study highlights the association of distinct urinary microbiome signatures with infection status, which supports L. crispatus as the most promising probiotic for UTI prevention and control.
Source: A comparative analysis of urinary microbiome identifies putative probiotics