BACKGROUND: Recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) increase mortality and reduce graft survival after renal transplantation.
Strategies to prevent recurrent UTIs include L-methionine, cranberry juice, and antibiotics. Data on the efficacy of cranberry and L-methionine, however, are controversial in the general population; there are few data in renal transplant recipients.
METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of 82 transplant recipients with recurrent UTIs, who underwent prophylaxis with cranberry juice (2 × 50 mL/d, n = 39, 47.6%), or L-methionine (3 × 500 mg/d, n = 25, 30.5%), or both modalities (n = 18, 21.9%). Thirty patients without prophylaxis served as controls. We analyzed symptoms, pyuria/nitrituria, and incidence of UTI events during 1 year before versus after initiation of prophylaxis.
RESULTS: Prophylaxis highly significantly decreased the annual UTI incidence by 58.3% (P < .001) in the study population with no change in the control group (P = .85); in addition, 53.7% of symptomatic patients reported relief of symptoms and pyuria/nitrituria disappeared in 42.4% of the dipstick-positive patients (P < .001 each). Cranberry reduced the annual number of UTI episodes by 63.9% from 3.6 ± 1.4 to 1.3 ± 1.3/year (P < .001) and L-methionine by 48.7% from 3.9 ± 1.8 to 2.0 ± 1.3/year (P < .001).
CONCLUSION: Cranberry juice and L-methionine successfully reduced the incidence of UTI after renal transplantation.
Written by:
Pagonas N, Hörstrup J, Schmidt D, Benz P, Schindler R, Reinke P, van der Giet M, Zidek W, Westhoff TH. Are you the author?
Department of Nephrology, Charité-Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany.
Reference: Transplant Proc. 2012 Dec;44(10):3017-21.
doi: 10.1016/j.transproceed.2012.06.071
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23195017
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