Does hormonal therapy affect the bladder or the kidney in postmenopausal women with and without nocturnal polyuria: Results of a pilot trial?

AIM: To observe the impact of hormonal treatment (HT) on voiding patterns and renal circadian rhythms in postmenopausal women with and without nocturnal polyuria (NP).

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

A prospective, observational study was executed at the menopause clinic of a tertiary hospital. HT was based on patients' choice and was in the form of either oral and transdermal oestrogen. Participants completed a 72-hour bladder diary, completed the ICIQ-FLUTS questionnaire, recorded a renal function profile and gave a blood sample. This set of tests was done before and after 3 months of HT.

RESULTS

32 postmenopausal women with a median age of 52.5 (49.3-56.0) years were enroled in this study. Three months of HT resulted in a significant decrease in fluid intake (p < 0.001) and daytime voiding frequency (p = 0.019). No impact on nocturnal parameters was observed. Observations drawn from the questionnaires did not differ between the baseline and three-month assessments. HT led to a disappearance of the circadian rhythm of the diuresis rate and sodium clearance in patients without NP, as no significant difference between daytime and night-time values was observed (diuresis rate p = 0.3; sodium clearance p = 0.08). In patients with NP at baseline, HT did not induce a circadian rhythm of the diuresis rate and sodium clearance (p = 0.2; p = 0.7). In contrast, free water clearance did change to a clear circadian rhythm (p = 0.02).

CONCLUSION

HT led to a significant reduction in both fluid intake and daytime frequency. In women without NP, HT led to a disruption of the circadian rhythms of water and salt diuresis. In patients with NP, a limited normalisation of the circadian rhythm of free water clearance was observed after three months of HT. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER FROM CLINICALTRIALS.GOV: NCT04891926.