RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Urinary prostaglandin E2 as a biomarker for recurrent UTI in postmenopausal women JF Life Science Alliance JO Life Sci. Alliance FD Life Science Alliance LLC SP e202000948 DO 10.26508/lsa.202000948 VO 4 IS 7 A1 Tahmineh Ebrahimzadeh A1 Amy Kuprasertkul A1 Michael L Neugent A1 Kevin C Lutz A1 Jorge L Fuentes A1 Jashkaran Gadhvi A1 Fatima Khan A1 Cong Zhang A1 Belle M Sharon A1 Kim Orth A1 Qiwei Li A1 Philippe E Zimmern A1 Nicole J De Nisco YR 2021 UL https://www.life-science-alliance.org/content/4/7/e202000948.abstract AB Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common adult bacterial infections and exhibits high recurrence rates, especially in postmenopausal women. Studies in mouse models suggest that cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)–mediated inflammation sensitizes the bladder to recurrent UTI (rUTI). However, COX-2–mediated inflammation has not been robustly studied in human rUTI. We used human cohorts to assess urothelial COX-2 production and evaluate its product, PGE2, as a biomarker for rUTI in postmenopausal women. We found that the percentage of COX-2–positive cells was elevated in inflamed versus uninflamed bladder regions. We analyzed the performance of urinary PGE2 as a biomarker for rUTI in a controlled cohort of 92 postmenopausal women and PGE2 consistently outperformed all other tested clinical variables as a predictor of rUTI status. Furthermore, time-to-relapse analysis indicated that the risk of rUTI relapse was 3.6 times higher in women with above median urinary PGE2 levels than with below median levels. Taken together, these data suggest that urinary PGE2 may be a clinically useful diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for rUTI in postmenopausal women.