We will determine whether key characteristics of the newly discovered female urinary microbiome, the bacterial community living in the bladder of many adult women, associate strongly with two common forms of urinary incontinence (stress urinary incontinence [SUI] and urgency urinary incontinence [UUI]). To perform this study, Loyola investigators will recruit approximately 1200 women (400 each from two, well- characterized urinary incontinence cohorts and 400 continent controls). They will determine whether certain bacterial species, or entire microbiomes, are related to urinary incontinence symptoms. A significant difference between these clinical subgroups would be suggestive of a relationship between urinary incontinence and the female urinary microbiome. Our investigators have various areas of expertise including clinicians specializing in urinary incontinence care, and scientists specializing in microbiology and bioinformatics.
This project will play a central clinical-translational role with participant recruitment, sample acquisition and analysis focused on improving the quality-of-life for women with urinary incontinence.
| Kramer, Holly; Kuffel, Gina; Thomas-White, Krystal et al. (2018) Diversity of the midstream urine microbiome in adults with chronic kidney disease. Int Urol Nephrol 50:1123-1130 |
| Brubaker, Linda; Wolfe, Alan J (2017) The Female Urinary Microbiota/Microbiome: Clinical and Research Implications. Rambam Maimonides Med J 8: |
| Brubaker, Linda; Wolfe, Alan J (2017) Microbiota in 2016: Associating infection and incontinence with the female urinary microbiota. Nat Rev Urol 14:72-74 |
| Mueller, Elizabeth R; Wolfe, Alan J; Brubaker, Linda (2017) Female urinary microbiota. Curr Opin Urol 27:282-286 |
| Brubaker, Linda; Wolfe, Alan J (2017) The female urinary microbiota, urinary health and common urinary disorders. Ann Transl Med 5:34 |
| Brubaker, Linda; Wolfe, Alan (2016) The urinary microbiota: a paradigm shift for bladder disorders? Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol 28:407-12 |
