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Bacterial DNA and live bacteria have been detected in human urine in the absence of clinical infection, challenging the prevailing dogma that urine is normally sterile. Urgency urinary incontinence (UUI) is a poorly understood urinary condition characterized by symptoms that overlap urinary infection, including urinary urgency and increased frequency with urinary incontinence. The recent discovery of the urinary microbiome warrants investigation into whether bacteria contribute to UUI. In this study, we used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to classify bacterial DNA and expanded quantitative urine culture (EQUC) techniques to isolate live bacteria in urine collected by using a transurethral catheter from women with UUI and, in comparison, a cohort without UUI. For these cohorts, we demonstrated that the UUI and non-UUI urinary microbiomes differ by group based on both sequence and culture evidences. Compared to …