Evaluating the use of biobanked urine specimens for human urobiome studies.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-2-2025

Institution/Department

Nephrology & Transplantation

Journal Title

Microbiol Spectr

MeSH Headings

Humans, Biological Specimen Banks, Microbiota, Male, Female, Urine, Urinary Tract, Metagenomics, Middle Aged, Specimen Handling, Bacteria, Adult, Aged

Abstract

Case-control studies focused on the urinary tract microbiome, or urobiome, have consistently reported significant associations with disease. However, clinical urobiome studies have typically been small, averaging ~50 patients per study. While these sample sizes are sufficient to detect large effect sizes, they have not been able to differentiate disease phenotypes within a larger disease complex (e.g., different types of kidney stones), which have unique etiological origins. Biobanked urine specimens can help fill this void. However, since these specimens were not collected specifically for urobiome studies, they must be validated before drawing any strong conclusions. The objective of this study was to evaluate microbiome data derived from metagenomic analysis of biobanked urine specimens against the following criteria: (i) level of contaminants; (ii) retention of high-quality DNA; (iii) overgrowth of a few dominant bacteria; and (iv) preservation of sex-specific taxa. A total of 174 samples were assessed from biobanked or freshly collected specimens (

ISSN

2165-0497

First Page

0216424

Last Page

0216424

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