NON-ANTIBIOTIC SUBSTANCES IN THE TREATMENT AND PREVENTION OF RECURRENT URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS

Jowita Frydrych; Karolina Ochyra; Martyna Bukała; Kornelia Pudło; Gabriela Godek; Karolina Ryba; Katarzyna Znamirowska; Klaudia Zacher; Anna Rakoczy; Patrycja Walkiewicz

doi:10.31435/ijitss.4(48).2025.4152

Authors

Jowita Frydrych University Teaching Hospital them. F. Chopin in Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0003-5416-7252
Karolina Ochyra Medical Center in Łańcut, Łańcut, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0009-7525-3014
Martyna Bukała Medical Center in Łańcut, Łańcut, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9288-4140
Kornelia Pudło Independent Public Health Care Complex No. 1 in Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0007-1415-6048
Gabriela Godek University Teaching Hospital them. F. Chopin in Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6633-6498
Karolina Ryba University Teaching Hospital them. F. Chopin in Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4305-8375
Katarzyna Znamirowska University Teaching Hospital them. F. Chopin in Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6760-2174
Klaudia Zacher Medical Center in Łańcut, Łańcut, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8839-9668
Anna Rakoczy University Teaching Hospital them. F. Chopin in Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1096-161X
Patrycja Walkiewicz University Teaching Hospital them. F. Chopin in Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0492-9485

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31435/ijitss.4(48).2025.4152

Keywords:

Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections, rUTI, Non-Antibiotic Prophylaxis, D-Mannose, Cranberry Extract, Probiotics, Vaginal Estrogen, UTI Prevention, Alternative UTI Treatment

Abstract

Urinary tract infections (UTI) create a serious health problem worldwide, affecting people of all ages. It represents one of the most common reasons for the use of antibiotics in outpatient care, leading to a reduction in their effectiveness through ever-increasing bacterial resistance to them. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop new and effective therapies. The purpose of this paper is to present alternative therapies that can help prevent and treat recurrent UTIs, such as cranberry preparations, D-mannose, robotics and topical estrogen. After analyzing the available studies, it was shown that each of these substances can have a beneficial effect on reducing recurrent UTIs, although their effectiveness varies. Substances with high therapeutic potential appear to be D-mannose and probiotics. Their action is based on supporting the natural human microflora and blocking bacterial adhesion to the epithelium of the urinary tract. A preventive strategy in the context of UTI in postmenopausal women seems to be vaginal estrogen. However, further robustly designed clinical trials need to be conducted to truly confirm that these therapies are effective and safe in terms of long-term efficacy.

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