Department of Laboratory Medicine, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University.
Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Medicine (Baltimore). 2021 Apr 2;100(13):e25362. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000025362.
We investigated the vaginal flora diversity of preschool-aged (ie, 4-6-year-old) girls in southwest China.Fourteen preschool-aged girls were enrolled in this study. The statuses and differences in their vaginal flora were evaluated by Gram staining, bacterial culturing, and sequencing analysis.Gram staining and microbial culturing showed that the main vaginal flora of the preschool-aged girls were Gram-negative bacilli, whereas the main vaginal flora of healthy adult controls were large Gram-positive bacilli such as Lactobacillus crispatus. Shannon and Simpson indexes indicated that the bacterial diversity tended to decrease with age. The species abundance heat map showed that the vaginal microecology of the girls differed slightly at different ages but mainly comprised Pseudomonas, Methylobacterium, Sphingomona,s and Escherichia. The functional abundance heat map indicated that the bacterial functions increased with age.The vaginal microecology of preschool-aged girls differs from that of adults. A comprehensive understanding of the vaginal flora diversity of preschool-aged girls will aid in clinically diagnosing vulvovaginitis in preschool-aged girls.
我们调查了中国西南地区学龄前（即 4-6 岁）女童的阴道菌群多样性。本研究纳入了 14 名学龄前女童。通过革兰氏染色、细菌培养和测序分析评估了她们的阴道菌群状况和差异。革兰氏染色和微生物培养显示，学龄前女童的主要阴道菌群为革兰氏阴性杆菌，而健康成年对照组的主要阴道菌群为大革兰氏阳性杆菌，如乳酸杆菌。香农和辛普森指数表明，细菌多样性随年龄增长而趋于下降。物种丰度热图显示，女童的阴道微生态在不同年龄略有不同，但主要包括假单胞菌、甲基杆菌、鞘氨醇单胞菌和大肠杆菌。功能丰度热图表明，细菌功能随年龄增长而增加。学龄前女童的阴道微生态与成人不同。全面了解学龄前女童阴道菌群多样性将有助于临床上诊断学龄前女童的外阴阴道炎。
