The Continuum of Microbial Ecosystems along the Female Reproductive Tract: Implications for Health and Fertility

Nakama, Claudia; Thompson, Brice; Szybala, Cory; McBeth, Andrea; Dobner, Piper; Zwickey, Heather

doi:10.3390/pathogens11111244

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 90 publications

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“…A large number of previous studies have linked female infertility with female reproductive tract microflora and body conditions and attempted to explore the mechanism of urogenital tract microflora. The health of the urogenital microbiome is dependent on the health of its individual niche environments and on several intrinsic and extrinsic host factors including pH, hormone levels, daily lifestyle activities, and more (Nakama et al, 2022). In this study, compared with the relatively healthy population, the changes in the urogenital microflora of infertile patients developed towards the trend of the microflora composition that was identified as unfavorable to the human body by previous studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Urogenital tract and rectal microbiota composition and its influence on reproductive outcomes in infertile patients

Dong

Zhong²,

Zhang³

et al. 2023

Front. Microbiol.

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IntroductionMicrobiota in the human body are closely related to human diseases. Female urogenital tract and rectal microbes have been considered as important factors affecting female pregnancy, but the mechanism is unknown.MethodsCervical, vaginal, urethral, and rectal swabs were collected from 22 infertile patients and 10 controls, and follicular fluid was extracted from 22 infertile patients. The microbial composition of different sampling sites of infertile patients was examined. By comparing the microbial composition difference between infertile patients and controls and combining bioinformatics methods to analyze the potential impact of the female urogenital tract (cervical, vaginal and urethral) and rectal microbial diversity on female infertility and pregnancy outcomes.ResultsLactobacillus predominated in the female urogenital tract, but its abundance decreased in infertile patients, whereas the abundance of Gardnerella and Atopobium increased. The microbial changes in the urethra had the same trend as that in the vagina. Compared with healthy controls, the cervical and rectal microbial diversity of infertile patients were significantly increased and decreased, respectively. There might be interactions between microbes in different parts of female. Geobacillus thermogeniticans was enriched in the urogenital tract and rectum of infertile patients, and has a good predictive effect on infertility. Compared with infertile patients, L. johnsonii was enriched in the vagina, urethra, and intestine of the control group. L. acidophilus in follicular fluid might be associated with Non-pregnancy.ConclusionThis study found that the microbial composition of infertile patients was changed compared with that of healthy people. The translocation of Lactobacillus between the rectum and urogenital tract might play a protective barrier role. The changes of Lactobacillus and Geobacillus might be related to female infertility or pregnancy outcome. The study provided a theoretical basis for the future treatment of female infertility from the perspective of microorganisms by detecting the microbial changes associated with female infertility.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Urogenital tract and rectal microbiota composition and its influence on reproductive outcomes in infertile patients

Dong

Zhong²,

Zhang³

et al. 2023

Front. Microbiol.

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Vaginal microbes alter epithelial transcriptomic and epigenomic modifications providing insight into the molecular mechanisms for susceptibility to adverse reproductive outcomes

Elovitz,

Anton,

Cristancho

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The cervicovaginal microbiome is highly associated with women’s health with microbial communities dominated by Lactobacillus spp. being considered optimal. Conversely, a lack of lactobacilli and a high abundance of strict and facultative anaerobes including Gardnerella vaginalis, have been associated with adverse reproductive outcomes. However, the molecular pathways modulated by microbe interactions with the cervicovaginal epithelia remain unclear. Using RNA-sequencing, we characterize the in vitro cervicovaginal epithelial transcriptional response to different vaginal bacteria and their culture supernatants. We showed that G. vaginalis upregulated genes were associated with an activated innate immune response including anti-microbial peptides and inflammasome pathways, represented by NLRP3-mediated increases in caspase-1, IL-1β and cell death. Cervicovaginal epithelial cells exposed to L. crispatus showed limited transcriptomic changes, while exposure to L. crispatus culture supernatants resulted in a shift in the epigenomic landscape of cervical epithelial cells. ATAC-sequencing confirmed epigenetic changes with reduced chromatin accessibility. This study reveals new insight into host-microbe interactions in the lower reproductive tract and suggest potential therapeutic strategies leveraging the vaginal microbiome to improve reproductive health.

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The Vaginal Microbiome during Pregnancy in Health and Disease

Mendz

2023

Applied Microbiology

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This study appraises the progress in the understanding of the composition of the vaginal microflora with a focus on the microbiome during pregnancy. This knowledge is presented with the background of the global health contribution, along with the importance of these microbial communities to pregnancy. A brief review of current methods employed to investigate the structure of these microbial populations is included. Two types of studies, cross-sectional and longitudinal, have been used to characterise the vaginal microbiota; both types are reviewed since they provide information that serves to piece together a more complete picture of the vaginal microflora and its changes during pregnancy. The identity of microbes present in the vagina are examined in the context of health and disease, and, more specifically, in the setting of pregnancy outcomes. The protective role of lactobacilli in maintaining a healthy vaginal environment is evaluated, with analyses of the different roles of various Lactobacillus spp. Classifications of the vaginal microbiota into vagitypes in non-pregnant and pregnant women are discussed. The associations of specific taxa with three adverse pregnancy results, namely, miscarriage, stillbirth, and preterm birth, are examined in some detail. Longitudinal studies investigating changes in the bacterial community composition and taxa abundance demonstrate that this microbiota decreases in richness and diversity relative to those present in non-pregnant microbiomes. Notwithstanding the significant effort made to characterise the vagina bacterial microbiota, a large number of issues remain to be fully understood.

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The Continuum of Microbial Ecosystems along the Female Reproductive Tract: Implications for Health and Fertility

Cited by 4 publications

References 90 publications

Urogenital tract and rectal microbiota composition and its influence on reproductive outcomes in infertile patients

Urogenital tract and rectal microbiota composition and its influence on reproductive outcomes in infertile patients

Vaginal microbes alter epithelial transcriptomic and epigenomic modifications providing insight into the molecular mechanisms for susceptibility to adverse reproductive outcomes

The Vaginal Microbiome during Pregnancy in Health and Disease

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