Kim Min Jeong, Lee Seungok, Kwon Mi Yeon, Kim Myungshin
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bucheon St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea.
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea.
Front Microbiol. 2022 Feb 18;13:851670. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.851670. eCollection 2022.
The vaginal microbiome protects the female genital tract from various diseases, such as vaginitis, a vaginal inflammation characterized by abnormal discharge, itching, and pain. To evaluate the clinical relationship between the vaginal microbiome and the pathophysiology of recurrent vaginitis (RV), we investigated the microbiome taxonomic profile (MTP) in the vaginal samples of Korean female patients with RV.
Forty women of reproductive age diagnosed with RV were enrolled. The vaginal MTP of patients was analyzed using 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, and the results were compared with that of healthy women ( = 100). Further, the association of the vaginal community state type (CST) with the clinical characteristics was analyzed.
The species abundance of MTP was significantly lower in patients with RV than in healthy women ( < 0.05), whereas species evenness and diversity were significantly higher in patients with RV than in healthy individuals ( < 0.05). The proportion of the most common vaginal spp. was significantly lower in the MTP of patients with RV than healthy women ( < 0.01). The beta diversity distance was also significantly different between patients with RV patients and healthy individuals ( = 0.001). Based on the CST, the MTP of 40 RV samples was categorized as follows: 21 (52.5%) for CST IV, 8 (20.0%) for CST III, 5 (12.5%) for CST I, 2 (5.0%) for CST II, 1 for (2.5%) for CST V, and 3 (7.5%) for mixed CST. Patients with underlying uterine diseases (uterine leiomyoma, adenomyosis, and endometrial polyps; = 17) showed higher species richness and diversity than those without ( = 23; < 0.05).
Changes in the species abundance and microbial diversity in the vagina were strongly associated with RV. A low proportion of spp. was found in patients with RV than in healthy women. The abundance and diversity of bacterial taxa were significantly higher in patients with underlying gynecologic disease than those without. Our study offers an insight into the nature of the vaginal microbiome and proposes that surveying the vaginal microbiome is valuable for detecting and treating gynecologic diseases in the future.
阴道微生物群可保护女性生殖道免受多种疾病侵害，如阴道炎，这是一种以异常分泌物、瘙痒和疼痛为特征的阴道炎症。为评估阴道微生物群与复发性阴道炎（RV）病理生理学之间的临床关系，我们调查了韩国RV女性患者阴道样本中的微生物分类学特征（MTP）。
招募了40名诊断为RV的育龄女性。使用16S核糖体RNA基因测序分析患者的阴道MTP，并将结果与健康女性（=100）的结果进行比较。此外，分析了阴道群落状态类型（CST）与临床特征的相关性。
RV患者的MTP物种丰度显著低于健康女性（<0.05），而RV患者的物种均匀度和多样性显著高于健康个体（<0.05）。RV患者MTP中最常见的阴道菌属比例显著低于健康女性（<0.01）。RV患者与健康个体之间的β多样性距离也有显著差异（=0.001）。基于CST，40份RV样本的MTP分类如下：CST IV型21份（52.5%），CST III型8份（20.0%），CST I型5份（12.5%），CST II型2份（5.0%），CST V型1份（2.5%），混合CST型3份（7.5%）。患有潜在子宫疾病（子宫平滑肌瘤、子宫腺肌病和子宫内膜息肉；=17）的患者比未患该疾病的患者（=23；<0.05）表现出更高的物种丰富度和多样性。
阴道中物种丰度和微生物多样性的变化与RV密切相关。RV患者中发现的菌属比例低于健康女性。患有潜在妇科疾病的患者细菌类群的丰度和多样性显著高于未患该疾病的患者。我们的研究深入了解了阴道微生物群的性质，并提出检测阴道微生物群对未来妇科疾病的检测和治疗具有重要价值。
