scholarly journals The Female Vaginal Microbiome in Health and Bacterial Vaginosis

Author(s):  
Xiaodi Chen ◽  
Yune Lu ◽  
Tao Chen ◽  
Rongguo Li

The vaginal microbiome is an intricate and dynamic microecosystem that constantly undergoes fluctuations during the female menstrual cycle and the woman’s entire life. A healthy vaginal microbiome is dominated by Lactobacillus which produce various antimicrobial compounds. Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is characterized by the loss or sharp decline in the total number of Lactobacillus and a corresponding marked increase in the concentration of anaerobic microbes. BV is a highly prevalent disorder of the vaginal microbiota among women of reproductive age globally. BV is confirmed to be associated with adverse gynecologic and obstetric outcomes, such as sexually transmitted infections, pelvic inflammatory disease, and preterm birth. Gardnerella vaginalis is the most common microorganism identified from BV. It is the predominant microbe in polymicrobial biofilms that could shelter G. vaginalis and other BV-associated microbes from adverse host environments. Many efforts have been made to increase our understanding of the vaginal microbiome in health and BV. Thus, improved novel and accurate diagnosis and therapeutic strategies for BV have been developed. This review covers the features of vaginal microbiome, BV, BV-associated diseases, and various strategies of diagnosis and treatment of BV, with an emphasis on recent research progresses.

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-57
Author(s):  
K.A. Gasparyan ◽  
V.K. Kondratyuk ◽  
I.G. Ponomareva ◽  
K.O. Kondratyuk ◽  
N.P. Dzis ◽  
...  

Overweight and obesity play a negative role in gynecological and obstetric practicE.In women, the frequency of infectious pathology increases against the background of metabolic disorderS.The most common form of infectious vaginitis is bacterial urogenital candidiasis, in the etiological structure of which a significant role belongs to the fungi Candida albicans, as well as Candida non-albicans: C.glabrata, C.tropicalis, C.parapsilosis, C.krusei. Associations of Candida fungi with various representatives of opportunistic microflora, such as gram-positive and gram-negative aerobic, facultative-anaerobic and obligate-anaerobic microorganisms, are often formed. As a result, numerous bacterial pathogens multiply and the number of lactobacilli, which are usually part of the bacterial flora of the vagina, is significantly reduced. In bacterial vaginosis (BV), the concentration of anaerobic pathogens Peptostreptococcus sp, Gardnerella vaginalis, Peptostreptococcus Mobiluncus sp, Mycoplasma hominis can increase 100 timeS.Activation of Atopobium vaginae and Gardnerella vaginalis, which play a “key” role in the pathogenesis of BV, has been proven. The aim of the study was to study changes in the vaginal microbiome in women with candidiasis and bacterial vaginosis in order to improve existing treatment regimenS.We examined 120 women of reproductive age with overweight and obesity. The degree of microbial contamination was determined and the maximum possible spectrum of aerobic and facultative-anaerobic microflora was detected. In women with vulvovaginal candidiasis, overweight and obesity, a high concentration (lg5.8 CFU/ml) of Candida fungi was found, and in 95% of patients two-, three- and four-component associations of Candida fungi with various representatives of conditional pathogenic microflora. Lactobacillus deficiency was found in 58.3% of patients, and their complete absence – in 10.0%. Bacteriological examination of the vaginal contents of women with vaginosis and obesity revealed significant dysbiotic disorders of the vaginal microflora, three-, four- and even five-component associations of anaerobic and facultative anaerobic microflora with a predominance of anaerobeS.A low seeding level of lactobacilli (lg2.2 CFU/ml) was established. Thus, the gram-positive anaerobic and facultative anaerobic microflora of Firmicutes have a significant share in the spectrum of vaginal microflora in overweight and obese patients, in contrast to non-obese women of reproductive agE.In women of reproductive age with vulvovaginal candidiasis and obesity, in contrast to non-obese patients, a higher frequency of fungal-bacterial associations, a higher quantitative level of vaginal contamination by Candida albicans and non-albicans with a lack or general absence of lactoflora.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas S Rhoades ◽  
Sara M Hendrickson ◽  
Danielle R Gerken ◽  
Kassandra Martinez ◽  
Ov D Slayden ◽  
...  

The vaginal microbiota plays an important role in women's reproductive and urogenital health. Disturbances in this microbial community can lead to several adverse outcomes including pelvic inflammatory disease, bacterial vaginosis (BV) as well as increased susceptibility to sexually transmitted infections, miscarriage, and pre-term births. It is now well accepted that while the microbiome of healthy women in the developed world is dominated by Lactobacillus species, vaginal communities in asymptomatic women, especially those in the developing world, can be comprised of a diverse set of micro-organisms. The presence of a diverse vaginal microbiome has been associated with increased susceptibility to HIV infection but their implications for women's health remain poorly understood. Rhesus macaques are an excellent translational animal model due to significant physiological and genetic homology with humans. In this study, we performed a longitudinal analysis of clinical and microbiome data from 16 reproductive age female rhesus macaques. Many animals showed hallmarks of BV, including Nugent scores above 7 and high vaginal pH. At both the taxonomic and functional level, the rhesus macaque vaginal microbiome was most similar to that of women who harbor a diverse vaginal community associated with asymptomatic/symptomatic bacterial vaginosis. Specifically, rhesus macaque vaginal microbiomes harbored a diverse set of anaerobic gram-negative bacteria, including; Snethia, Prevotella, Porphyromonas, and Mobilluncus. Interestingly, some animals were transiently colonized by Lactobacillus and some with Gardnerella. Our in-depth and comprehensive analysis highlights the importance of the model to test interventions for manipulating the vaginal microbiome.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Destaalem T. Kidane ◽  
Brock A. Arivett ◽  
Jacob Crigler ◽  
Eric J. Vick ◽  
Anthony L. Farone ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Gardnerella vaginalis is a Gram-variable bacterium associated with bacterial vaginosis, a common vaginal inflammation in women of reproductive age. This study reports the whole-genome sequencing for the clinical isolate strain ATCC 49145. The draft genome is composed of 21 contigs containing 1,325 protein-coding sequences, 45 tRNAs and a single tmRNA (SsrA).


2008 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 132-137
Author(s):  
P Madhivanan ◽  
K Krupp ◽  
V Chandrasekaran ◽  
C Karat ◽  
A Arun ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 1249-1252
Author(s):  
R. Mukhtar ◽  
A. U.- Rehman ◽  
A. Ilyas ◽  
M. J. Khan ◽  
R. Liaqat ◽  
...  

Aim: To determine the frequency of Bacterial vaginosis by pap smear cytology and find its association with its sociodemographic determinants. Study design: Cross sectional analytical study Place and duration of study: Department of Histopathology, Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore from 1st January 2016 to 31st October 2016. Methodology: Two hundred and sixty pap smears of married women of reproductive age group with vaginal discharge who attended Gynecology OPD were included. Proper history regarding age, socioeconomic status, age of marriage, literacy level, smoking, and nutritional status was taken. Results: Disease prevalence was found to be 19.2%(50)in this sample of 260 while 9.1% had Candidiasis, 47%, 17.2% ,3.7%, 4.1% had Mild nonspecific inflammation, Moderate nonspecific inflammation, Moderate to severe nonspecific inflammation, and negative smears respectively. Bacterial vaginosis was associated with age, monthly income, illiteracy, early age at marriage, history of abortion and nutritional status with significant p-value ≤ 0.05. However no association was found between the disease and marital status, smoking and pallor. Conclusion: Low socioeconomic status, literacy, age >35, nutritional status is strongly related to occurrence of bacterial vaginosis in women of reproductive age group with vaginal discharge. Key Words: Bacterial vaginosis, Pap smear, Sociodemographic determinants


Author(s):  
Durga K. ◽  
Karthika K.

Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) present a huge burden of disease and adversely affect the reproductive health of people. The disease prevalence is about 6% in India. This study is done to determine the prevalence of STIs in women of reproductive age (15-49yrs) attending gynaec outpatient block at Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Chennai and to identify the risk factors.Methods: It is a prospective analytical study conducted at IOG from Febraury 2010 to January 2011 where 1000 women of reproductive age attending gynec op were included of which 500 women were asymptomatic and 500 women were symptomatic for STIs. A well-structured proforma was prepared for selection of women, history, examination, investigations and treatment. Asymptomatic women were also screened and treated. Partners were also screened and treated. Depending upon the statistical data, the risk factors were identified and analysed.Results: Overall prevalence of STI was 27.2% of which 22.5% was in symptomatic group and 4.7% in asymptomatic group. Bacterial vaginosis was the commonest STI. The important risk factors identified were age group between 26-30 years, high risk sexual behaviours, poor socioeconomic factors, poor menstrual hygiene and lack of contraception.Conclusions: STIs cause major health problem and it is important to diagnose and treat them at the earliest. The importance of STIs has been more widely recognised since the advent of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and there is good evidence that their control can reduce HIV transmission. Women diagnosed with one STI should be screened for other STI due to coexistant infections. Screening and treatment of partners and follow-up tests of cure should be performed wherever possible.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. e0224359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raina N. Fichorova ◽  
Charles S. Morrison ◽  
Pai-Lien Chen ◽  
Hidemi S. Yamamoto ◽  
Yashini Govender ◽  
...  

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