Review Article
Year: 2018 | Month: October | Volume: 5 | Issue: 10 | Pages: 407-420
Pregnancy and Hormonal Effects on Urinary Tract Infections in Women: A Scoping Review
Lakshmi Anjali Konapala1, Vasanthi Vesalapu1, Raj Kiran Kolakota2, Vinodkumar Mugada3
1V Year Pharm.D, 2Professor, 3Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice, Vignan Institute of Pharmaceutical Technology, Duvvada, Visakhapatnam, AP, India
Corresponding Author: Lakshmi Anjali Konapala
ABSTRACT
Urinary tract infections (UTI) are among the most common bacterial infections in humans usually caused by Escherichia coli. In our body, estrogen and progesterone hormones play a very important role in the urinary tract. Cyclical variations in these levels during the menstrual cycle changes urodynamics and cause lower urinary tract symptoms. The aim of the review was to know the effect of hormones in women and in pregnant ladies on UTI. Many publications were searched using the keywords in particular databases like PubMed, Trip database etc. Suitable articles were explored by three-stage screening. Decreased estrogen levels cause changes in the vaginal flora and increase the colonization of bacteria. While increased progesterone levels antagonize estrogen actions and cause the ureters muscle tone to relax. This decreases the voiding of urine and its flow leading to the infection. In pregnancy, ureteral dilatation starts at the beginning of the first trimester and develop hydronephrosis gradually. This is due to hormonal changes, primarily by progesterone. As the uterus starts growing, mechanical compression of the urinary tract begins and has more incidence of infections. Unresolved UTI’s may cause many complications in pregnant women as well as in neonates. A decrease in estrogen and an increase in progesterone levels can cause urinary tract infections. Pregnancy can enhance the risk of infections from the end of the first trimester through the mechanical compression and through progesterone release.
Key words: urinary tract infections, estrogen, progesterone, pregnancy, bacteriuria
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