Evolving Enterococcus faecalis Biofilms and Urinary Tract Infection Relapse: Does Vaginal Estrogen Matter?

Enterococcus faecalis urinary tract infection (UTI) is common in postmenopausal females and these bacteria create biofilms that may reduce treatment efficacy. The role of local vaginal estrogen therapy in susceptibility to E. faecalis infection is unclear.

The aim of the study was to evaluate differences in the treatment of relapsing E. faecalis UTIs in postmenopausal women using vaginal estrogen compared to premenopausal women.

This was a secondary analysis of a retrospective cohort study of 71 female ambulatory patients seen within the gynecology or urogynecology practices between 2011 and 2020. Patients included had symptomatic E. faecalis UTI and a diagnosis of recurrent UTI. Patients with asymptomatic bacteriuria and concurrent pregnancy were excluded. Data was retrieved by chart review, stored, and analyzed utilizing descriptive statistics. A 2-sided Fisher exact test was performed to compare outcomes between postmenopausal and premenopausal patients and the prescription of additional rounds of antibiotics for relapse.

Within this cohort, 57.8% were postmenopausal and 42.2% were premenopausal. There was no statistically significant difference in the need for additional antibiotics between postmenopausal and premenopausal patients (10.8% vs 14.3%, P = 0.72), postmenopausal patients not using vaginal estrogen and premenopausal patients (0% vs 14.3%, P = 0.28), postmenopausal patients using vaginal estrogen and premenopausal patients (20% vs 14.3%, P = 0.70), and among postmenopausal vaginal estrogen users and nonusers (20% vs 0%, P = 0.11).

A small percentage of premenopausal and postmenopausal patients with recurrent UTI required additional antibiotics for E. faecalis relapse. However, there are no statistically significant differences between our estrogen-deficient or estrogenized postmenopausal patients, and premenopausal patients.