The predominant Human vaginal Lactobacillus flora during IVF treatment

• Published in: Annals of clinical microbiology and antimicrobials Vol. 7; no. 14; p. 1
• Main Authors: Jakobsson, Tell, Forsum, Urban
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: MEDICIN; MEDICINE
• ISSN: 1476-0711; 1476-0711
• DOI: 10.1186/1476-0711-7-14

Background: Signature matching of nucleotide sequences in the V1 and V3 regions 16S rRNA genes using pyrosequencing technology is a powerful tool for typing vaginal Lactobacilli to the species level and has been used for investigating the vaginal microbial niche. Methods: This study has characterized the normal cultivable vaginal  Lactobacillus  flora at varying estradiol levels in plasma; the study comprised 17 patients undergoing ovarian stimulation for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) treatment. The vaginal status of each participant was initially assessed as normal according to Amsel and Nugent criteria. Results: L. crispatus, L. gasseri and/or L. jensenii  were present in 10 of the patients throughout the study period, and little variation among these three species was encountered in individual patients. The flora of three women was dominated by  L. delbrüeckii, L. rhamnosus or L. vaginalis . One woman exhibited a dominance of  L. iners . The flora of the remaining three women were initially dominated by  L. rhamnosus  or  L. reuteri , but as their estrogen levels rose, their flora composition altered, to become dominated by one of the three species most common in a normal, healthy vagina. Conclusion: Signature matching of nucleotide sequences in the V1 and V3 regions of 16S rRNA genes is a discriminative tool for the study of vaginal  Lactobacilli  and can be used to track the  Lactobacillus  flora under a variety of physiological conditions.