INTRODUCTION
With
the prevailing dogma that urine is normally sterile has been
overturned,1, 2 there has been growing evidence that a
shift in the normal microbiome of the bladder may play an important role
in pathophysiology of lower urinary tract symptoms
(LUTS).3-7 Karstens and Pearce found that bladder
urine from women with urge urinary incontinence (UUI) seem to present an
altered microbiome compare to urine from asymptomatic healthy
individuals,2, 5 and our previous study found that
urinary microbiome may play a part in the development of overactive
bladder (OAB) symptom.8 However, no research has been
published on whether the female urinary microbiome (FUM) affects the
severity of OAB while the effects of OAB on quality of life increased
with the worsening of the disease,9 and the factors
affecting the severity are unclear. In addition, comprehension of the
impact of FUM on the OAB severity may help provide guidance for
optimized management, while current guidelines propose symptomatic
treatment despite the severity of OAB.
Thus, in order to investigate whether the microbiome/microbiota (e.g.,
diversity, overall community structure, and/or specific organisms) would
play a role in the severity of OAB, we describe the FUM analysis using16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing to characterize the
relationships between FUM parameters and demographic and clinical
characteristics of OAB patients.