Combined phage therapy and faecal microbiota transplantation to treat recurrent urinary tract infection: a case series
Recurrent urinary tract infections are recalcitrant and difficult-to-treat bacterial infections that primarily affect women. Here we combine phage therapy with faecal microbiota transplantation to decolonize the urinary and intestinal reservoirs of patients with recurrent urinary tract infections. Three women received oral and intravesical phage therapy for 8 days, and two underwent subsequent faecal microbiota transplantation. Treatments were well tolerated, and although Escherichia coli was detected in follow-up samples, patients experienced none or fewer and less severe episodes of urinary tract infection 24 months post-treatment.
Authors
- Jiemin Du (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1246-6508)
- Fedja Farowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6730-0038)
- Sonja Milek
- Lorenz Leitner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5764-3494)
- Shawna E. McCallin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4277-7753)
- Swenja Lassen
- Martin J. Loessner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8162-2631)
- Annika Y. Claßen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2905-5139)
- Hendrik Koliwer‐Brandl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1613-5615)
- André Kahles (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3411-0692)
- Oksana Mykolaivna Chemych (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1332-2175)
- Paul G. Higgins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8677-9454)
- Matthew Dunne (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2329-8183)
- Jens Scheidegger
- Jonas Eigler
- Fatih Abdula
- Lena M. Biehl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7613-8119)
- Thomas M. Kessler
- Oliver Gross
- Sarah Dugas
- Simone C. Lieberknecht-Jouy
- Maria J. G. T. Vehreschild
Institutions
- Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
- SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (CH)
- University of Cologne (DE)
- University of Zurich (CH)
- Sumy State University (UA)
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- University Hospital of Zurich (CH)
- Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology (DE)
- German Center for Infection Research (DE)
- Center for Pediatric Endocrinology Zurich (CH)
- Universitätsklinik Balgrist (CH)
- University Hospital Frankfurt (DE)
- European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (CH)
- University Hospital Cologne (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Microbiology
- Published
- 2026-07-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-026-02409-0
- Primary Topic
- Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung
- European Commission
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- Universität Zürich
- H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions