title: D-mannose: a promising support for acute urinary tract infections in women. A pilot study.
abstract: Urinary tract infections still represent a significant bother for women and result in high costs to the health system. D-mannose is a simple sugar; it seems able to hinder bacteria adhesion to the urothelium. The present study aimed to determine whether D-mannose alone is effective in treating acute urinary tract infections in women and its possible utility in the management of recurrences.
  
  
  
  This is a pilot study, performed between April 2014 and July 2015 at Department of Gynaecological Obstetrics and Urologic Sciences of "Sapienza" University of Rome. A D-mannose compound was administered twice daily for 3 days and then once a day for 10 days. Changes in patients' symptoms, the therapeutic effects and changes in quality of life (QoL) were evaluated clinically and using a specifically validated questionnaire (UTISA). After described treatment, patients were randomized in receiving or not prophylaxis in the next 6 months.
  
  
  
  Mean UTISA scores recorded after completing the treatment, compared with baseline scores, showed a significant improvement of the majority of symptoms (p < 0.05). D-mannose seemed to have had a significant positive effect on UTIs' resolution and QoL improvement (p = 0.0001). As prophylactic agent administered for 6 months, it showed promising results (4.5% vs. 33.3% recurrences in treated and untreated patients respectively).
  
  
  
  The results of this study suggest that D-mannose can be an effective aid in acute cystitis management and also a successful prophylactic agent in a selected population; however, more studies will certainly be needed to confirm the results of our pilot study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecological Obstetrics and Urologic Sciences, University Sapienza of Rome, Rome, Italy. lavinia.domenici@gmail.com.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Domenici
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monti
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bracchi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giorgini
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Colagiovanni
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Muzii
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Benedetti Panici
mesh_terms: D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008358:Mannose / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011788:Quality of Life; D011897:Random Allocation; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D008358:Mannose