The Roles of Gut Microbiome in UTI Susceptible Women

Investigate the Roles of Gut Microbiome in the Differential Responses of UTI Susceptible Women to Cranberry Juice Intake

Clinical trials on cranberry juice and UTI prevention yielded both positive and negative results for unknown reason. Gut microbiome in women affect the absorption and metabolism of cranberry bioactives. The variation of gut microbiome is a probable mechanism for metabolic polymorphisms and disparity in UTI prevention in women.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Healthy
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Cranberry juice; Other: Apple juice

Detailed Description

The American cranberries, especially cranberry juice, have used for centuries as a folk medicine to prevent urinary tract infections (UTI), which affect 50% of women in their lifetime. Over 40 clinical trials have been conducted in the last 20 years to verify the UTI preventatively activity of cranberry juices, but the results were contradictory. About 90% of UTI are initiated by the adhesion of uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) on urinary tract epithelia. It was reported that human urine after consumption of cranberry juice inhibited the adhesion of UPEC. The A-type proanthocyanidins and xyloglucans are the presumed bioactives in cranberries, however, this is unlikely because these two classes of compounds have extremely low bioavailability in human body. Preliminary research suggested that women can be either "resistant" or "susceptible" to UTI depending on the inherent anti-adhesion activity in their urine against UPEC before consuming cranberry juice. Not all but a fraction of "UTI susceptible" women had increased urinary anti-adhesion activity after consuming cranberry juices. These women are classified as "responders" and others are "non-responders". The variation of gut microbiome is a probable mechanism for metabolic polymorphisms and disparity in UTI prevention. The objective of this trials is to identify gut microbes and anti-adhesive urinary biomarkers which significantly contribute to the anti-adhesion of UPEC.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 160
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Liwei Gu, PhD; Phone Number: 3522943730; Email: lgu@ufl.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Shuhan Li, Master; Phone Number: 3523280624; Email: lishuhan@ufl.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Florida
    • Gainesville, Florida, United States, 32611
      • Recruiting
      • University of Florida
      • Contact: Shuhan Li, Master; Phone Number: 352-328-0624; Email: lishuhan@ufl.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 21 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy women participants;
• BMI 18.5-29.9 kg/m2;
• At least 110 pounds in weight

Exclusion Criteria:

• BMI≥ 30 kg/m2;
• Pregnancy and breast-feeding;
• Smoking, frequent alcohol use;
• History of any clinically important disorder that may interfere with interpretation of the results;
• Intake of medication that might influence the outcome of the study

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Cranberry juice consumption; Participants deemed as responders and non-responders will be given 20-30 oz (590-885 mL) of cranberry juice daily for 3 weeks.	Other: Cranberry juice; The responders and non-responders will drink 20-30 oz of (590-885 mL) 27% cranberry juice daily for 3 weeks.
Experimental: Apple juice consumption; Participants deemed as responders and non-responders will be given 20-30 oz (590-885 mL) apple juice with matching sugar and calories daily for 3 weeks.	Other: Apple juice; The participants will drink apple juice with matching sugar content and calories for 3 weeks

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in the unrinary anti-adhesion activity of UTI susceptible women	Compare the statistical differences between the changes from baseline in the an-adhesion activity against uropathogenic E. coli in UTI-susceptible women after consuming the cranberry juice for 3 weeks versus after consuming the placebo juice for 3 weeks. Anti-adhesion activity in urine will be measured using a fluorescence-based microplate method. The anti-adhesion activities of urines will be expressed by its equivalence to myricetin level. The unit for urine anti-adhesion activities is µg myricetin/mg creatinine.	Baseline up to 21 days of each intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Determine the compositional differences of gut microbiome in responders and non-responders after the cranberry juice intake	Compare the differences in the gut microbiomes between responders and non-responders after consuming the cranberry juice for 3 weeks versus after consuming the placebo juice for 3 weeks. Human feces collected from responders and non-responders will be analyzed for microbiota composition. Relative abundance of gut microbiome at phylum level, family level, genus level, and Firmicutes over Bacteroidetes ratio will be evaluated. Genomic microbial DNA will be extracted from fecal samples using DNA isolation kits. The 16S ribosomal RNA gene (V1-3 region) of each sample will be amplified and sequenced using a barcoding system on a MiSeq sequencer. Sequence data will be analyzed using the latest version of QIIME.	Baseline up to 21 days of each intervention
Identify anti-adhesion urinary biomarkers in responders versus non-responders after the cranberry juice intake	Determine the impacts of cranberry juice intake on the urinary metabolome and identify anti-adhesion urinary biomarkers in responders and non-responders after consuming the cranberry juice for 3 weeks versus after consuming the placebo juice for 3 weeks. Metabolites in urine will be detected using UHPLC-HRMS and annotated using combination of m/z and retention time. Metabolites that significantly contribute to the anti-adhesion activity of urine revealed by PLS regression analysis are the potential anti-adhesion biomarkers. A list of potential biomarkers will be generated. Structures of these biomarkers will be tentatively determined through spectral analysis and database searching. Structure of tentatively identified biomarkers will be confirmed by comparing with authentic standards.	Baseline upt to 21 days of each intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Florida
• Collaborators: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• Investigators: Study Director: Gary P Wang, PhD, University of Florida; Principal Investigator: Liwei Gu, PhD, University of Florida

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 18, 2021
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): August 1, 2025
• Study Completion (Anticipated): August 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 29, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 29, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): October 1, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 9, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 8, 2023
• Last Verified: May 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: UTI; Cranberry
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2021-09003; IRB202102165 (Other Identifier: UF IRB-01); PRO00039868 (Other Identifier: UF UFIRST)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No