Mirmonsef Paria, Hotton Anna L, Gilbert Douglas, Gioia Casey J, Maric Danijela, Hope Thomas J, Landay Alan L, Spear Gregory T
Department of Immunology/Microbiology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America.
The CORE Center, Cook County Health & Hospital System, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2016 Apr 19;11(4):e0153553. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0153553. eCollection 2016.
Colonization of the female lower genital tract with Lactobacillus provides protection against STIs and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Growth of genital Lactobacillus is postulated to depend on epithelial cell-produced glycogen. However, the amount of cell-free glycogen in genital fluid available for utilization by Lactobacillus is not known.
Eighty-five genital fluid samples from 7 pre-menopausal women taken over 4-6 weeks were obtained using the Instead SoftCup® (EvoFem, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA) by consented donors. Cell-free glycogen and glucose in genital fluids and estrogen and progesterone in blood were quantified.
Glycogen ranged from 0.1-32 μg/μl. There were significant differences between women in glycogen over the observation period. There was a strong negative correlation between glycogen and vaginal pH (r = -0.542, p<0.0001). In multivariable analysis, free glycogen levels were significantly negatively associated with both vaginal pH and progesterone (p < 0.001 and p = 0.004, respectively). Estrogen, glucose, age, sexual intercourse 24 hours prior to visit, and days after the initial visit were not significantly associated with free glycogen levels.
Cell-free glycogen concentrations can be very high, up to 3% of genital fluid, and are strongly associated with acidic vaginal pH. However, the fluctuations in glycogen levels in individuals and differences between individuals do not appear to be associated with estrogen.
女性下生殖道被乳酸杆菌定殖可预防性传播感染和不良妊娠结局。据推测，生殖道乳酸杆菌的生长依赖于上皮细胞产生的糖原。然而，可供乳酸杆菌利用的生殖道液中无细胞糖原的量尚不清楚。
通过美国加利福尼亚州圣地亚哥市EvoFem公司生产的Instead SoftCup®，在4至6周内从7名绝经前女性中获取了85份生殖道液样本，样本由已签署知情同意书的捐赠者提供。对生殖道液中的无细胞糖原和葡萄糖以及血液中的雌激素和孕激素进行了定量分析。
糖原含量范围为0.1至32μg/μl。在观察期内，女性之间的糖原含量存在显著差异。糖原与阴道pH值呈强烈负相关（r = -0.542，p<0.0001）。在多变量分析中，游离糖原水平与阴道pH值和孕激素均呈显著负相关（分别为p < 0.001和p = 0.004）。雌激素、葡萄糖、年龄、就诊前24小时的性交情况以及初次就诊后的天数与游离糖原水平均无显著关联。
无细胞糖原浓度可能非常高，可达生殖道液的3%，且与阴道酸性pH值密切相关。然而，个体内糖原水平的波动以及个体间的差异似乎与雌激素无关。
