Vlasac Irma M, Stolrow Hannah G, Thayer Zaneta M, Christensen Brock C, Rivera Luisa
Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.
Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA.
Epigenetics. 2025 Dec;20(1):2453275. doi: 10.1080/15592294.2025.2453275. Epub 2025 Jan 18.
Menstrual effluent cell profiles have potential as noninvasive biomarkers of female reproductive and gynecological health and disease. We used DNA methylation-based cell type deconvolution (methylation cytometry) to identify cell type profiles in self-collected menstrual effluent. During the second day of their menstrual cycle, healthy participants collected menstrual effluent using a vaginal swab, menstrual cup, and pad. Immune cell proportions were highest in menstrual cup samples, and epithelial cells were highest in swab samples. Our work demonstrates the feasibility and utility of menstrual effluent cell profiling in population-level research using remotely collected samples and DNA methylation.
月经流出物细胞图谱有潜力作为女性生殖和妇科健康与疾病的非侵入性生物标志物。我们使用基于DNA甲基化的细胞类型反卷积（甲基化细胞计数法）来识别自行采集的月经流出物中的细胞类型图谱。在月经周期的第二天，健康参与者使用阴道拭子、月经杯和卫生巾收集月经流出物。免疫细胞比例在月经杯样本中最高，上皮细胞在拭子样本中最高。我们的工作证明了在人群水平研究中使用远程采集的样本和DNA甲基化进行月经流出物细胞图谱分析的可行性和实用性。
