scholarly journals Study of the Vaginal Microbiota in Healthy Women of Reproductive Age

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 1069
Author(s):  
Melanie C. Alonzo Martínez ◽  
Eduardo Cazorla ◽  
Esther Cánovas ◽  
Juan F. Martínez-Blanch ◽  
Empar Chenoll ◽  
...  

Understanding the characteristics of the vaginal microbiota of our patients allows us to carry out both a personalized therapeutic approach and a closer follow-up in those with microbiota susceptible to dysbiosis. This trial pursues the analysis of the vaginal microbiota of premenopausal women and its fluctuations within a four-week follow-up period. Vaginal samples of 76 fertile women were taken at a baseline visit and at a final visit (day 28 ± 5). To perform a phylogenetic study, we employed massive sequencing techniques to detect the 16S rRNA gene of the vaginal microbiota. The most prevalent vaginal microbial community was type I (34.87%), dominated by Lactobacillus crispatus. Vaginal microbial community types II (Lactobacillus gasseri) and V (Lactobacillus jensenii) were underrepresented in our population. When repeating the sampling process four weeks later, 75% of our patients maintained their initial bacterial community. In the follicular phase, the most recurrent microbiota was type III (Lactobacillus iners); in the periovulatory phase, types III and IV (microbial diversity); finally, in the luteal phase, the most frequent type was IV. The most prevalent vaginal bacterial community in our population was dominated by L. crispatus. The vaginal microbiota was resistant to changes in its bacterial community in 75% of our patients, even between consecutive menstrual cycles.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolas M. Stasulli ◽  
Scott M. Yourstone ◽  
Ilon Weinstein ◽  
Elizabeth Ademski ◽  
Elizabeth A. Shank

Abstract BackgroundThe interconnected and overlapping habitats present in natural ecosystems remain a challenge in determining the forces driving microbial community composition. The cup-like leaf structures of some carnivorous plants, including the family Sarraceniaceae, are self-contained ecological habitats that represent systems for exploring such microbial ecology questions. We investigated whether Sarracenia minor and Sarracenia flava, when sampled at the same geographic location and time, cultivate unique microbiota; an indication of biotic selection of microbes due to eliminating many of the environmental variable present in other studies comparing samples harvested over several time points. ResultsDNA was extracted from the decomposing detritus trapped in the base of each Sarracenia leaf pitcher. We profiled a portion of the 16S rRNA gene across the bacterial community members present in this detritus using Illumina MiSeq technology. We identified a surprising amount of diversity within each pitcher, but also discovered that the two Sarracenia species each contained distinct, enriched microbial community members. This suggests a non-random establishment of microbial communities within these two Sarracenia species.ConclusionsOverall, our results indicate that microbial selection is occurring within the pitchers of these two closely related plant species, which is not due to factors such as geographic location, weather, or prey availability. This suggests that specific features of S. minor and S. flava may play a role in fostering specific insect-decomposing microbiomes. These naturally occurring microbial ecosystems can be developed to answer important questions about microbial community succession, disruption, and member contributions to the community. This study will help further establish carnivorous pitcher plants as a model system for studying confined, naturally occurring bacterial communities.


Author(s):  
Priscila Dobbler ◽  
Volker Mai ◽  
Renato S. Procianoy ◽  
Rita C. Silveira ◽  
Andréa L. Corso ◽  
...  

Abstract The female lower genital tract harbors a complex microbial community essential for homeostasis and health. During pregnancy, the female body undergoes unique hormonal changes that contribute to weight gain as well as modulations in immune function that can affect microbiota composition. Several studies have described the vaginal microbiota of pregnant women from the USA, Europe and Mexico. Here we expand our knowledge about the vaginal microbial communities during the third trimester to healthy expectant Brazilian mothers. Vaginal samples were collected from patients delivering at the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil. Microbial DNA was isolated from samples and the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was amplified and sequenced using the PGM Ion Torrent. Brazilian pregnant women presented three distinct types of microbial community at the time of labor. Two microbial communities, Cluster 1 and Cluster 3, presented an overall dominance of Lactobacillus while Cluster 2 tended to present higher diversity and richness, with the presence of Pseudomonas, Prevotella and other vaginosis related bacteria. About half of the Brazilian mothers sampled here had dominance of L. iners. The proportion of mothers without dominance of any Lactobacillus was higher in Brazil (22%) compared to UK (2.4%) and USA, where this community type was not detected. The vaginal microbiota showed significant correlation with the composition of the babies’ gut microbiota (p-value = 0.002 with a R2 of 15.8%). Mothers presenting different vaginal microbiota shared different microorganisms with their newborns, which would reflect on initial colonizers of the developing newborns’ gut.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1803
Author(s):  
Bulbul Ahmed ◽  
Jean-Baptiste Floc’h ◽  
Zakaria Lahrach ◽  
Mohamed Hijri

Phytate represents an organic pool of phosphorus in soil that requires hydrolysis by phytase enzymes produced by microorganisms prior to its bioavailability by plants. We tested the ability of a microbial suspension made from an old growth maple forest’s undisturbed soil to mineralize phytate in a greenhouse trial on soybean plants inoculated or non-inoculated with the suspension. MiSeq Amplicon sequencing targeting bacterial 16S rRNA gene and fungal ITS was performed to assess microbial community changes following treatments. Our results showed that soybean nodulation and shoot dry weight biomass increased when phytate was applied to the nutrient-poor substrate mixture. Bacterial and fungal diversities of the root and rhizosphere biotopes were relatively resilient following inoculation by microbial suspension; however, bacterial community structure was significantly influenced. Interestingly, four arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) were identified as indicator species, including Glomus sp., Claroideoglomus etunicatum, Funneliformis mosseae and an unidentified AMF taxon. We also observed that an ericoid mycorrhizal taxon Sebacina sp. and three Trichoderma spp. were among indicator species. Non-pathogenic Planctobacteria members highly dominated the bacterial community as core and hub taxa for over 80% of all bacterial datasets in root and rhizosphere biotopes. Overall, our study documented that inoculation with a microbial suspension and phytate amendment improved soybean plant growth.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 208-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. A. Wise ◽  
R. Troisi ◽  
E. E. Hatch ◽  
L. J. Titus ◽  
K. J. Rothman ◽  
...  

Diethylstilbestrol (DES), a synthetic estrogen widely prescribed to pregnant women in the mid-1900s, is a potent endocrine disruptor. Prenatal DES exposure has been associated with reproductive disorders in women, but little is known about its effects on endogenous hormones. We assessed the association between prenatal DES exposure and reproductive hormones among participants from the Harvard Study of Moods and Cycles (HSMC), a longitudinal study of premenopausal women aged 36–45 years from Massachusetts (1995–1999). Prenatal DES exposure was reported at baseline (43 DES exposed and 782 unexposed). Early follicular-phase concentrations of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) and estradiol were measured at baseline and every 6 months during 36 months of follow-up. Inhibin B concentrations were measured through 18 months. We used multivariable logistic and repeated-measures linear regression to estimate odds ratios (OR) and percent differences in mean hormone values (β), respectively, comparing DES exposed with unexposed women, adjusted for potential confounders. DES-exposed women had lower mean concentrations of estradiol (pg/ml) (β=−15.6%, 95% confidence interval (CI): −26.5%, −3.2%) and inhibin B (pg/ml) (β=−20.3%, CI: −35.1%, −2.3%), and higher mean concentrations of FSH (IU/I) (β=12.2%, CI: −1.5%, 27.9%) and LH (IU/I) (β=10.4%, CI: −7.2%, 31.3%), than unexposed women. ORs for the association of DES with maximum FSH>10 IU/I and minimum inhibin B<45 pg/ml – indicators of low ovarian reserve – were 1.90 (CI: 0.86, 4.22) and 4.00 (CI: 0.88–18.1), respectively. Prenatal DES exposure was associated with variation in concentrations of FSH, estradiol and inhibin B among women of late reproductive age.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Wang ◽  
Jieying Xu ◽  
Qixin Han ◽  
Weiwei Chu ◽  
Gang Lu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Primary ovary failure (POF) is defined as follicular failure in women of reproductive age. Although many factors are speculated to contribute to the occurrence of POF, the exact aetiology is unclear. Alterations in the microbiome of women with POF are poorly studied; Methods: This study investigated the vaginal microbiota of 22 patients with POF and 29 healthy individuals. High-throughput Illumina Miseq sequencing targeting the V3-V4 region of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene was used to evaluate the relationships between vaginal flora and clinical characteristics of POF. Results: Different from before, we found that the diversity and richness of the vaginal flora of patients with POF was significantly different from that of healthy controls. Comparison of the flora of patients with POF with that of menopausal women revealed that the relative abundance of Lactobacillus was significantly reduced in the latter, and women with reduced relative abundance of Lactobacillus in microbiota community decreased the pregnancy success rate at term. The result suggests the present study enabled identification of microbiota associated with POF, further investigations of differences in the microbiota in the context of POF will improve our understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease which involve modification of the vaginal microbiota. Conclusion: The present study identified the microbiota associated with POF. Further investigations on the differences in the microbiota in the context of POF will improve our understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease which involves modification of the vaginal microbiota.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanya Brown ◽  
Christopher Otero ◽  
Alejandro Grajales ◽  
Estefania Rodriguez ◽  
Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty

Examination of host-microbe interactions in basal metazoans, such as cnidarians is of great interest from an evolutionary perspective to understand how host-microbial consortia have evolved. To address this problem, we analyzed whether the bacterial community associated with the cosmopolitan and model sea anemone Exaiptasia pallida shows specific patterns across worldwide populations ranging from the Caribbean Sea, and the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. By comparing sequences of the V1-V4 hypervariable regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene, we revealed that anemones host a complex and diverse microbial community. When examined at the phylum level, bacterial diversity and abundance associated with E. pallida are broadly conserved across geographic space with samples, containing largely Proteobacteria and Bacteroides. However, the species-level makeup within these phyla differs drastically across space suggesting a high-level core microbiome with local adaptation of the constituents. Indeed, no bacterial OTU was ubiquitously found in all anemones samples. We also revealed changes in the microbial community structure after rearing anemone specimens in captivity within a period of four months. These results contrast with the postulation that cnidarian hosts might actively select and maintain species-specific microbial communities that could have resulted from an intimate co-evolution process. Instead, our findings suggest that environmental settings, not host specificity seem to dictate bacterial community structure associated with this sea anemone. More than maintaining a specific composition of bacterial species some cnidarians associate with a wide range of bacterial species as long as they provide the same physiological benefits towards the maintenance of a healthy host. The examination of the previously uncharacterized bacterial community associated with the cnidarian sea anemone model E. pallida is the first global-scale study of its kind.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Wang ◽  
Jieying Xu ◽  
Qixin Han ◽  
Weiwei Chu ◽  
Gang Lu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Primary ovary failure (POF) is defined as follicular failure in women of reproductive age. Although many factors are speculated to contribute to the occurrence of POF, the exact aetiology is unclear. Alterations in the microbiome of women with POF are poorly studied; Methods This study investigated the vaginal microbiota of 22 patients with POF and 29 healthy individuals. High-throughput Illumina Miseq sequencing targeting the V3-V4 region of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene was used to evaluate the relationships between vaginal flora and clinical characteristics of POF. Results Different from before, we found the diversity and richness of the vaginal flora of patients with POF was significantly different to that of healthy controls. Comparison of the flora of patients POF with that of menopausal women revealed that the relative abundance of Lactobacillus was significantly reduced in the latter, and women with reduced relative abundance of Lactobacillus in microbiota community decreased the pregnancy success rate at term. This study confirms that vaginal microbiota dysbiosis occurs in patients with POF. Additionally, the vaginal microbiota is closely related to clinical characteristics of POF and the inclusion of a disease verification model could reveal more accurate information related to the composition of the microbiota and its functions. Conclusion The result suggests the present study enabled identification of microbiota associated with POF, further investigations of differences in the microbiota in the context of POF will improve our understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease which involve modification of the vaginal microbiota.


PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanya Brown ◽  
Christopher Otero ◽  
Alejandro Grajales ◽  
Estefania Rodriguez ◽  
Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty

Examination of host-microbe interactions in early diverging metazoans, such as cnidarians, is of great interest from an evolutionary perspective to understand how host-microbial consortia have evolved. To address this problem, we analyzed whether the bacterial community associated with the cosmopolitan and model sea anemoneExaiptasia pallidashows specific patterns across worldwide populations ranging from the Caribbean Sea, and the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. By comparing sequences of the V1–V3 hypervariable regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene, we revealed that anemones host a complex and diverse microbial community. When examined at the phylum level, bacterial diversity and abundance associated withE. pallidaare broadly conserved across geographic space with samples, containing largelyProteobacteriaandBacteroides.However, the species-level makeup within these phyla differs drastically across space suggesting a high-level core microbiome with local adaptation of the constituents. Indeed, no bacterial OTU was ubiquitously found in all anemones samples. We also revealed changes in the microbial community structure after rearing anemone specimens in captivity within a period of four months. Furthermore, the variation in bacterial community assemblages across geographical locations did not correlate with the composition of microalgalSymbiodiniumsymbionts. Our findings contrast with the postulation that cnidarian hosts might actively select and maintain species-specific microbial communities that could have resulted from an intimate co-evolution process. The fact thatE. pallidais likely an introduced species in most sampled localities suggests that this microbial turnover is a relatively rapid process. Our findings suggest that environmental settings, not host specificity, seem to dictate bacterial community structure associated with this sea anemone. More than maintaining a specific composition of bacterial species some cnidarians associate with a wide range of bacterial species as long as they provide the same physiological benefits towards the maintenance of a healthy host. The examination of the previously uncharacterized bacterial community associated with the cnidarian sea anemone modelE. pallidais the first global-scale study of its kind.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Zhang ◽  
Xubo Gao ◽  
Chengcheng Li ◽  
Xuesong Luo ◽  
Yanxin Wang

Abstract As a toxic element, excessive amounts of fluoride in environment can be harmful because of its antimicrobial activity, however little is known about the relationship between fluoride and the bacterial community in groundwater systems. Here, we use samples from a typical fluorosis area to test the hypothesis that fluoride concentration is a fundamental structuring factor for bacterial communities in groundwater. Thirteen groundwater samples were collected; high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing and statistical analysis were conducted to compare the bacterial community composition in individual wells. The results showed that Proteobacteria, with most relative abundance in groundwater, decreased along the groundwater fluoride concentration. Additionally, relative abundances of 12 families were also statistically correlated with fluoride concentration. The bacterial community was significantly explained by TOC (P = 0.045) and fluoride concentration (P = 0.007) of groundwater. This suggests that fluoride and TOC likely plays an important role in shaping the microbial community structure in these groundwater systems. Our research suggest that fluoride concentration should be taken into consideration in future when evaluating microbial response to environmental conditions in groundwater system, especially for fluoride rich groundwater.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel Champion ◽  
Sarah Hogan ◽  
Jeffery Flemming

Background and Objective. Though multiple studies have evaluated the prevalence of incidental findings identified by CTPA, none have done so with a focus on reproductive-age females with normal chest X-ray (CXR). Due to a comparatively lower breast radiation dose, the oft-recommended alternative to CTPA in this patient group is a V/Q scan. However, these are limited in their assessment of these alternate findings; therefore, it is of particular importance to evaluate the likelihood of these findings on CT in this patient group, which is the goal of this study. Methods. Through a review of our PACS system, female patients aged 18-50 years who underwent diagnostic CTPA prior to April 1, 2017, were identified. The 100 most recent cases which had a normal CXR within 48 hours of CTPA were included. Incidental/non-PE findings were then divided into PE-positive (PE+) and PE-negative (PE-), and subcategorized into types I, II, III, and nil non-PE finding groups. Type I findings required immediate follow-up or intervention, type II findings required outpatient follow-up, and type III findings required no follow-up or were previously known. Results. PE was detected in 15% of scans. Type I findings were found in 8% of patients (0% of PE+, 9.4% of PE-), type II findings in 10% of patients (13.3% of PE+, 9.4% of PE-), type III findings in 34% of patients (40% of PE+, 32.9% of PE-), and nil non-PE finding in 48% of patients (46.7% PE+, 48.2% of PE-). Conclusion. While CTPA identifies incidental findings in the majority of patients, a small minority of these findings are likely to alter immediate management. In the context in increased radiation risk, this strengthens the argument that alternate imaging modalities such as V/Q should be strongly considered for the investigation of potential PE in women of reproductive age with normal CXR.


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