MICROTOX TEST AS A TOOL TO ASSESS ANTIMICROBIAL PROPERTIES OF HERBAL INFUSIONS USED IN URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS.

Herbs can be used preventatively, to aid treatment and to ease the symptoms of urinary tract infections (UTIs). Traditional medicine uses herbal infusions such as: lingonberry leaf (Vitis idaeae folium), birch leaf (Betulaefolium) wild thyme extract (Serpylli herba), dwarf everlast flower (Helichrysi inflorescentia), goldenrod (Virgauneae herba, also called Solidaginis herba), restharrow root (Ononidis radix), agrimony (Agrimoniae herba), rowanberry (Sorbi aucupariae fructus), black elderberry (Sambuci fructus), and juniper berry (Juniperifrictus). This study examined which of the herbal infusions used in treatment and reduction of symptoms of UTIs have the greatest efficacy, and at which concentration levels (5.

[Mechanisms of urinary tract sterility maintenance].

Physiologically, urine and the urinary tract are maintained sterile because of physical and chemical properties of urine and the innate immune system's action. The urinary tract is constantly exposed to the invasion of microorganisms from the exterior environment, also because of the anatomical placement of the urethra, in the vicinity of the rectum. Particularly vulnerable to urinary tract infections (UTI) are women (an additional risk factor is pregnancy), but also the elderly and children.