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Nickel JC, Stephens A, Landis JR, Mullins C, van Bokhoven A, Lucia MS, Ehrlich GD; MAPP Research Network. Assessment of the Lower Urinary Tract Microbiota during Symptom Flare in Women with Urologic Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome: A MAPP Network Study. J Urol. 2015 Sep 24. pii: S0022-5347(15)04883-1. doi: 10.1016/j.juro.2015.09.075. [Epub ahead of print]

Investigators with the MAPP Research Network have discovered that the presence of certain microorganisms in the lower urinary tract may be associated with flares in women with urologic chronic pelvic pain syndromes (UCPPS). The researchers assessed urine specimens from 233 women with UCPPS, some of whom had reported flares, and some who had not. They found a total of 81 species of microorganisms. Although the total number and type of microorganisms was similar in both the flare and non-flare groups, there was a greater prevalence of specific fungi, Candida and Saccharomyces, in the flare group (15.7%) versus the non-flare group (3.9%). It’s possible that antibiotic use and menstrual phase could account for a high prevalence of fungi, so the researchers adjusted the data for these potentially confounding factors; even after the adjustment, the women with flares were significantly more likely to have fungi present in their urine specimens.