Background & objectives:Urogenital infections of bacterial origin have a high incidence among the female population at reproductive age, affecting the fertility. Strains of Escherichia coli can colonize the vagina and replace natural microflora. Lactobacillus the predominant vaginal microorganism in healthy women, maintains the acidic vaginal pH which inhibits pathogenic microorganisms. Studies on Lactobacillus have shown that these can inhibit E. coli growth and vaginal colonization. An alternative therapeutic approach to antimicrobial therapy is to re-establish Lactobacillus in this microbiome through probiotic administration to resurge fertility. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the capability of L. plantarum 2621 strain with probiotic properties, to prevent the vaginal colonization of E. coli causing agglutination of sperms and to evaluate its profertility effect in a murine model.Methods:Screened mice were divided into five groups i.e. control group, E. coli group, Lactobacillus group, prophylactic and therapeutic groups. The control group was infused with 20 µl PBS, E.coli group was administered with 106 cfu/20 µl E. coli, and probiotic group was administered with Lactobacillus (108 cfu/20 µl) for 10 consecutive days. In prophylactic group, the vagina was colonized with 10 consecutive doses of Lactobacillus (108 cfu/20 µl). After 24 h, it was followed by 10 day intravaginal infection with E. coli (106 cfu/20 µl) whereas for the therapeutic group vagina was colonized with (106 cfu/20 µl) E. coli for 10 consecutive days, followed by 10 day intravaginal administration with Lactobacillus after 24 h.Results:Upon mating and completion of gestation period, control, probiotic and the therapeutic groups had litters in contrast to the prophylactic group and the group administered with E. coli.Interpretation & conclusions:Results indicated that Lactobacillus intermitted colonization of pathogenic strains that resulted in reinforcement of natural microflora and resurge fertility.

Bacterial infections have high incidence among the female population at reproductive age and are widely known to cause infertility due to inflammation. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of the inflammatory agent LPS on fertility outcome and to evaluate the ability of Lactobacillus plantarum in ameliorating the LPS-mediated inflammation-induced infertility. Female BALB/c mice infused intravaginally with a single dose of 20 ml sterile normal saline containing 5, 10 or 20 mg LPS were divided into two groups for evaluation of tissue histology and pregnancy outcome. In the first group, aimed at observing changes in tissue histology, inflammation was observed in vaginal sections of mice instilled with a single dose of 20 mg LPS, which were sacrificed on days 2, 5 and 8. In the second group, aimed at evaluating pregnancy outcome, female mice were administered 20 mg LPS, which rendered them infertile upon mating on days 2, 5 and 8. In another experiment, normal histology of vaginal sections was observed in mice administered a single dose of 20 mg LPS, followed by 10 8 c.f.u. L. plantarum in 20 ml at 24 h intervals, until the mice were sacrificed on days 2, 5 and 8. Following similar treatment, female mice, when mated with proven male breeder mice on days 2, 5 and 8, retained their fertility and delivered pups. These results were further confirmed by the downregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and an increase in anti-inflammatory cytokines on treatment with L. plantarum, revealing the role of probiotics in ameliorating inflammation-induced infertility.

Background: Infertility outcomes may be associated with the infections that would lead to morphological defects of spermatozoa in vitro. The purpose of this work was to investigate the effect of Lactobacillus plantarum 2621 (L. plantarum) on adherence of sperm agglutinating Escherichia coli (E. coli) in vitro and in vivo as well as its effect on fertility outcome. Materials and Methods: Interference of E. coli adherence to vaginal epithelial cells (VECs) by L. plantarum was studied by carrying out different assays such as exclusion, competition and displacement. Further, in vivo study was carried out in mouse model to

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