Oral D mannose in the prevention and treatment of recurrent urinary tract infections: A review

The results of several studies reveal that antibiotics may promote treatment resistance by causing alterations in the intestinal flora. The development of a gut reservoir of resistant bacteria promotes the development of UTIs through autoinfection. This review aims to address clinical reliability, efficacy and safety of long-term treatment with oral D mannose for the prevention of Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections (RUTI) in females. A comprehensive MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus and Cochrane search was performed for English language reports published before December 2018 using the term “recurrent urinary tract infections and D mannose” was carried out. We searched Medline, Embase, Scopus and the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials from January 2010 to December 2018. Eligible studies did not include non-oral therapy, local (vaginal) treatment in women with recurrent UTIs. We identified eligible original articles. A few limitations of the review are the heterogeneity of the available studies, their different rational and aim, the assumption of D mannose for prophylaxis or treatment of recurrent UTIs. Oral D mannose performs well in the prevention of UTIs recurrences, significant improvement of urinary symptoms was observed, the disease- free time was longer in the groups of patients under prophylaxis with D mannose in comparison with control groups (no treatment, antibiotic prophylaxis, prophylaxis with Proanthocyanidin (PAC) etc. The review has limitations, as the studies are heterogeneous, the meta-analysis requires classifications that can also be arbitrary. Furthermore, single-arm studies are not included. Some of the authors found this evidence inconclusive, which results as a limitation of the study. D mannose prolonged the recurrence-free interval of recurrent UTIs, thus reducing the prolonged or cyclical use of antibiotics, improving clinical symptoms, with a significant difference between treatment and control groups (no treatment, antibiotic prophylaxis, prophylaxis with Proanthocyanidin). However, most clinical trials used an association of different substances commingled with D mannose, dosages and regimens of D mannose were different. For this reason, the evidence of the efficacy of D mannose remains low.