Gandhi Kushal, Manales Nathan Joshua, Garza John, David Samuel, Sanchez Asley, Ventolini Gary
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at the Permian Basin, Odessa, TX, USA.
Department of Mathematics, The University of Texas Permian Basin, Odessa, TX, USA.
J Menopausal Med. 2022 Aug;28(2):52-59. doi: 10.6118/jmm.22001.
Female sexual and reproductive health is heavily influenced by the levels and ratios of species and vaginal cytokines. Menopause marks a profound body change as it shifts to a natural and permanent non-reproductive state. Vulvovaginal diseases encompass a broad variety of sexual health conditions. Furthermore, both menopause and vulvovaginal diseases affect vaginal and cytokine levels. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the correlation between menopause, vulvovaginal diseases, and vaginal and cytokine levels.
Vaginal swab samples were collected as part of a prospective data bank creation to study vaginal conditions as approved by the Institutional Review Board of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, USA. This study utilized 38 samples in this database, which were assigned to the pre-menopausal with no vulvovaginal conditions (n = 20) and post-menopausal with vulvovaginal conditions (n = 18) groups. A real-time polymerase chain reaction was conducted to determine the relative concentration of species, while cytokine analysis was performed using multiplex enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay immunoassay. The standardized mean difference, multivariate analysis of variance, and permutational unequal variance test were used for the statistical analysis.
Cytokines, interleukin (IL)-6, macrophage inflammatory protein-1α, IL-8, and expression were significantly elevated in the control group compared to the study group ( = 0.03 for the cytokines, = 0.0194 for ).
The levels of vaginal cytokine and profile were significantly different between the pre-menopausal and post-menopausal groups.
女性的性与生殖健康受到阴道微生物种类及细胞因子水平和比例的严重影响。绝经标志着身体发生深刻变化，进入自然且永久的非生殖状态。外阴阴道疾病涵盖了各种各样的性健康状况。此外，绝经和外阴阴道疾病都会影响阴道微生物及细胞因子水平。因此，本研究旨在探讨绝经、外阴阴道疾病与阴道微生物及细胞因子水平之间的相关性。
作为前瞻性数据库创建的一部分，收集阴道拭子样本以研究阴道状况，该研究经美国得克萨斯理工大学健康科学中心卢博克分校机构审查委员会批准。本研究使用了该数据库中的38个样本，将其分为无外阴阴道疾病的绝经前组（n = 20）和有外阴阴道疾病的绝经后组（n = 18）。采用实时聚合酶链反应来确定微生物种类的相对浓度，同时使用多重酶联免疫吸附测定法进行细胞因子分析。统计分析采用标准化平均差、多变量方差分析和置换不等方差检验。
与研究组相比，对照组中的细胞因子白细胞介素（IL）-6、巨噬细胞炎性蛋白-1α、IL-8及微生物表达显著升高（细胞因子P = 0.03，微生物P = 0.0194）。
绝经前组和绝经后组之间阴道细胞因子水平及微生物谱存在显著差异。
