Association of the eukaryotic vaginal virome with prophylactic antibiotic exposure and reproductive outcomes in a subfertile population undergoing in vitro fertilisation: a prospective exploratory study

• Published in: BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology Vol. 127; no. 2; pp. 208 - 216
• Main Authors: Eskew, AM, Stout, MJ, Bedrick, BS, Riley, JK, Omurtag, KR, Jimenez, PT, Odem, RR, Ratts, VS, Keller, SL, Jungheim, ES, Wylie, KM
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01.01.2020
• Subjects: Adult; Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; DNA, Viral - physiology; Embryo Transfer; Eukaryota - physiology; Female; Fertilization in Vitro; Herpesviridae; Humans; in vitro fertilisation; Infertility - therapy; Microbiota - genetics; Microbiota - immunology; Papillomaviridae; Pregnancy; Prospective Studies; reproductive tract microbiome; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - immunology; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Vagina - microbiology; Vagina - virology; vaginal virus; virome; Embryo transfer; virome; reproductive tract microbiome; in vitro fertilisation; vaginal virus
• ISSN: 1470-0328; 1471-0528
• DOI: 10.1111/1471-0528.15951

Objective The objective of this study was to use high‐throughput sequencing to describe the vaginal eukaryotic DNA virome in patients undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) to examine associations between the vaginal virome, antibiotic exposure and IVF outcomes. Design Prospective exploratory study. Setting Single academic fertility centre. Population Subfertile women age 18–43 years undergoing their first IVF cycle with a fresh embryo transfer. Methods The primary exposure was prophylactic azithromycin or no azithromycin before IVF. A mid‐vaginal swab was obtained at the time of embryo transfer for virome analysis. Main outcome measures The primary outcomes compared between exposure groups were characteristics of vaginal virome and clinical pregnancy rates. Secondary outcomes were virome associations with number of oocytes retrieved, number of blastocysts and implantation rate. Results Twenty‐six women contributed a vaginal swab before embryo transfer. There were no significant differences in IVF outcomes between azithromycin groups. There was no association between viral diversity and clinical pregnancy overall. A higher diversity of herpesviruses and α‐papillomaviruses was observed in samples from the azithromycin‐treated group compared with the no azithromycin group (P = 0.04). In women that received azithromycin, viral diversity was higher in the group that did not achieve clinical pregnancy compared with those who did (P = 0.06). Conclusions We demonstrate that the vaginal eukaryotic virome in women undergoing IVF is associated with antibiotic exposure. Additionally, we demonstrate an inverse trend between viral diversity and pregnancy, with a higher number of viruses detected associated with failure to achieve clinical pregnancy in the azithromycin group. Tweetable Higher viral diversity is associated with prophylactic antibiotic exposure in subfertile women undergoing IVF. Tweetable Higher viral diversity is associated with prophylactic antibiotic exposure in subfertile women undergoing IVF.