Randomised trial of cranberry-lingonberry juice and Lactobacillus gg drink for the prevention of urinary tract infections in women

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether recurrences of urinary tract infection can be prevented with cranberry-lingonberry juice or with Lactobacillus GG drink. Design: Open, randomised controlled 12 month follow up trial. SETTING: Health centres for university students and staff of university hospital. PAR...

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Published inBMJ. British medical journal (International ed.) Vol. 322; no. 7302; pp. 1571 - 1573
Main Authors KONTIOKARI, Tero, SUNDQVIST, Kaj, NUUTINEN, M, POKKA, T, KOSKELA, M, UHARI, M
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London British Medical Association 30.07.2001
BMJ Publishing Group
EditionInternational edition
Subjects
Bacteria
Bacterial diseases
Bacterial diseases of the urinary system
Biological and medical sciences
Clinical trials
Excretory system
Fruits
Human bacterial diseases
Infections
Infectious diseases
Medical sciences
Prevention
Women
Human
Relapse
Escherichia coli
Urinary tract disease
Statistics
Cranberries
Prevention
Symptomatology
Validity
Bacteria
Lactobacillaceae
Female
Enterobacteriaceae
Lactobacillus
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Summary:OBJECTIVE: To determine whether recurrences of urinary tract infection can be prevented with cranberry-lingonberry juice or with Lactobacillus GG drink. Design: Open, randomised controlled 12 month follow up trial. SETTING: Health centres for university students and staff of university hospital. PARTICIPANTS: 150 women with urinary tract infection caused by Escherichia coli randomly allocated into three groups. Interventions: 50 ml of cranberry-lingonberry juice concentrate daily for six months or 100 ml of lactobacillus drink five days a week for one year, or no intervention. Main outcome measure: First recurrence of symptomatic urinary tract infection, defined as bacterial growth >/=10(5 )colony forming units/ml in a clean voided midstream urine specimen. RESULTS: The cumulative rate of first recurrence of urinary tract infection during the 12 month follow up differed significantly between the groups (P=0.048). At six months, eight (16%) women in the cranberry group, 19 (39%) in the lactobacillus group, and 18 (36%) in the control group had had at least one recurrence. This is a 20% reduction in absolute risk in the cranberry group compared with the control group (95% confidence interval 3% to 36%, P=0.023, number needed to treat=5, 95% confidence interval 3 to 34). CONCLUSION: Regular drinking of cranberry juice but not lactobacillus seems to reduce the recurrence of urinary tract infection.
ISSN:0959-8146