BMJ 2001;323:936 ( 20 October )

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Lactulose may help prevent urinary tract infections

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR---The study by Kontiokari et al did not show a significant reduction in the prevalence of urinary tract infection in women using a lactobacillus drink, but it did show a benefit of cranberry-lingonberry juice.1 They concluded that this lack of benefit may have been because they were unable to induce periurethral colonisation with lactobacilli.

Most urinary tract infections are caused by autoinfection, the pathogenic organisms originating from the host's own colonic flora. Previous studies have shown a reduction in the prevalence of urinary tract infections by using lactulose. 2 3 This synthetic disaccharide is predominantly used as an osmotic laxative and in managing portosystemic encephalopathy. It is neither absorbed nor metabolised in its transit through the upper gastrointestinal tract, but it is degraded by the bacterial flora of the proximal colon to organic acids. These acidify the proximal colon and result in a dose dependent catharsis.

Lactulose also has several . . . [Full text of this article]
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Relevant Article

Randomised trial of cranberry-lingonberry juice and Lactobacillus GG drink for the prevention of urinary tract infections in women
Tero Kontiokari, Kaj Sundqvist, M Nuutinen, T Pokka, M Koskela, and M Uhari
BMJ 2001 322: 1571. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Fleige, S., Preissinger, W., Meyer, H. H. D., Pfaffl, M. W. (2009). The immunomodulatory effect of lactulose on Enterococcus faecium fed preruminant calves. J ANIM SCI 87: 1731-1738 [Abstract] [Full text]  
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