Comparative analysis of the vaginal microbiome of pregnant women with either Trichomonas vaginalis or Chlamydia trachomatis

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 14; no. 12; p. e0225545
• Main Authors: Masha, Simon Chengo, Owuor, Collins, Ngoi, Joyce Mwongeli, Cools, Piet, Sanders, Eduard J, Vaneechoutte, Mario, Crucitti, Tania, de Villiers, Etienne P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 12.12.2019; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Abundance; Adolescent; Adult; Arthritis; Bacteria; Bacterial vaginosis; Bacteriology; Biodiversity; Biology and Life Sciences; Chlamydia; Chlamydia Infections - immunology; Chlamydia Infections - microbiology; Chlamydia trachomatis; Chlamydia trachomatis - genetics; Chlamydia trachomatis - immunology; Chlamydia trachomatis - isolation & purification; Comparative analysis; Composition; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Disease transmission; DNA; DNA, Bacterial - isolation & purification; Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Female; Future predictions; Genes; Health; Health sciences; Hospitals; Humans; Infection; Infections; Laboratories; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Microbiomes; Microbiota - genetics; Microbiota - immunology; Next-generation sequencing; Parasitic diseases; Pathogenic microorganisms; Pathogens; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - immunology; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - microbiology; Pregnant women; Premature birth; Prenatal care; Ribosomal RNA; RNA; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics; rRNA 16S; Sexually transmitted diseases; Software industry; STD; Trichomonas vaginalis; Trichomonas vaginalis - genetics; Trichomonas vaginalis - immunology; Trichomonas vaginalis - isolation & purification; Trichomonas Vaginitis - immunology; Trichomonas Vaginitis - microbiology; Vagina; Vagina - microbiology; Vaginosis; Womens health; Young Adult; Kenya; United States; United Kingdom > UK; Belgium
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225545

Although the significance of the human vaginal microbiome for health and disease is increasingly acknowledged, there is paucity of data on the differences in the composition of the vaginal microbiome upon infection with different sexually transmitted pathogens. The composition of the vaginal bacterial community of women with Trichomonas vaginalis (TV, N = 18) was compared to that of women with Chlamydia trachomatis (CT, N = 14), and to that of controls (N = 21) (women negative for TV, CT and bacterial vaginosis). The vaginal bacterial composition was determined using high throughput sequencing with the Ion 16S metagenomics kit of the variable regions 2, 4 and 8 of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene from the vaginal swab DNA extract of the women. QIIME and R package "Phyloseq" were used to assess the α- and β-diversity and absolute abundance of the 16S rRNA gene per sample in the three groups. Differences in taxa at various levels were determined using the independent T-test. A total of 545 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified in all the three groups of which 488 occurred in all three groups (core OTUs). Bacterial α-diversity, by both Simpson's and Shannon's indices, was significantly higher, (p = 0.056) and (p = 0.001) respectively, among women with either TV or CT than among controls (mean α-diversity TV-infected > CT-infected > Controls). At the genus level, women infected with TV had a significantly (p < 0.01) higher abundance of Parvimonas and Prevotella species compared to both controls and CT-infected women, whereas women infected with CT had a significantly (p < 0.05) higher abundance of Anaerococcus, Collinsella, Corynebacterium and Dialister. The vaginal microbiomes of TV and CT-infected women were markedly different from each other and from women without TV and CT. Future studies should determine whether the altered microbiomes are merely markers of disease, or whether they actively contribute to the pathology of the two genital infections.