Probiotic sp. Strains Inhibit Growth, Adhesion, Biofilm Formation, and Gene Expression of Bacterial Vaginosis-Inducing .

contributes significantly to bacterial vaginosis, which causes an ecological imbalance in vaginal microbiota and presents with the depletion of sp. supplementation was reported to be an approach to treat bacterial vaginosis. We investigated the applicability of three sp. strains ( DM8909, ATCC14917, and ZX27) based on their probiotic abilities in vitro. The three candidate sp. strains for bacterial vaginosis therapy showed distinct properties in auto-aggregation ability, hydrophobicity, adhesion to cervical epithelial cells, and survivability in 0.01% hydrogen peroxide. ZX27 showed a higher yield in producing short-chain fatty acids and lactic acid among the three candidate strains, and all three sp. strains inhibited the growth and adhesion of . Furthermore, we discovered that the culture supernatant of sp. exhibited anti-biofilm activity against . In particular, the ZX27 supernatant treatment decreased the expression of genes related to virulence factors, adhesion, biofilm formation, metabolism, and antimicrobial resistance in biofilm-forming cells and suspended cells. Moreover, sp. decreased the upregulated expression of interleukin-8 in HeLa cells induced by or hydrogen peroxide. These results demonstrate the efficacy of sp. application for treating bacterial vaginosis by limiting the growth, adhesion, biofilm formation, and virulence properties of .