Urinary Microbiome Evaluation in Patients Presenting with Hematuria with a Focus on Exposure to Tobacco Smoke

Purpose: To better characterize the urinary microbiome in males and contribute to overall understanding of the urinary microbiota specifically in patients undergoing evaluation for possible bladder cancer, stratified by risk exposure to smoking.

Patients and methods: Recruitment of 43 male patients in a sequential manner presenting for hematuria evaluation to a single institution was undertaken. Mid-stream urine specimen pellets were processed through a DNA isolation protocol before undergoing PCR amplification, purification, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Gene sequences were clustered into operational taxonomic units and statistical analysis was performed to determine specimen diversity and phylogenetic trends.

Results: No significant difference in microbial diversity was found between the specimens. On subgroup analysis, no significant difference was observed when stratified by either tobacco smoking history or by newly diagnosed urothelial bladder cancer. Variation in microbial diversity was seen amongst all analyzed specimens.

Conclusion: The results of our analysis of carefully selected subjects help to better characterize the urinary microbiome in males and supplements the limited available information on the interrelationship between the urinary microbiome and development of genitourinary malignancy. No significant difference was observed in our small sample size when stratified by tobacco exposure or newly diagnosed bladder cancer.