[The efficiency of combined regimens for the treatment of urinary tract infections in women using the herbal drug Canephron N]

Introduction: Currently, empiric antibiotic therapy is considered the standard for acute cystitis. However, additional treatment may be required to alleviate the patient's condition and shorten the time to subjective recovery.

Aim: To evaluate the efficiency of the combined administration of fosfomycin trometamol and herbal drug Canephron N in comparison with a single oral dose of fosfomycin trometamol in women with uncomplicated bacterial cystitis.

Materials and methods: A randomized, comparative, open-label study was carried put between January 2018 and June 2019. The study included 112 women with symptoms of acute uncomplicated cystitis, who were randomized between two groups in a 1:1 ratio. In the main group, patients received a single oral dose of fosfomycin in combination with Canephron N (2 tablets t.i.d. for 2 weeks), while in the control group patients received only a single dose of fosfomycin (3 g). Symptoms were assessed using the Russian version of the Acute Cystitis Symptom Score (ACSS), completed daily for a week. Also, all patients underwent urine analysis on the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th days of therapy. The mean time to complete recovery based on the ACSS questionnaire and the time to resolution of pyuria were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. Comparison of the proportion of patients with complete cure, according to the questionnaire, or with the elimination of pyuria was carried out using the chi-square test.

Results: The final analysis included 46 patients who received fosfomycin in combination with Canephron and 47 patients who received fosfomycin as monotherapy. In the group of combination therapy, patient-reported complete recovery (assessed by the ACSS questionnaire) was seen on average after 1 day, while in patients treated with monotherapy, the median time to subjective recovery was 3 days (p=0.00012). A significant difference between the groups in the proportion of patients with complete resolution of symptoms of acute cystitis was observed on days 1, 2, and 3 (p<0.05). The therapy was well tolerated in both groups. The most frequent adverse events were dyspepsia (8.7% in the combination group compared to 6.4% in the control group) and headache (in 4.3% and 6.4% of patients, respectively).

Conclusion: the combined use of fosfomycin trometamol and the herbal drug Canephron N allows to reduce the duration of symptoms in patients with acute cystitis, thereby accelerating return to their usual lifestyle patterns.