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Bar O, Sudhof LS, Yockey LJ, Bergerat A, Moriel N, Andrews E, Ananthakrishnan AN, Xavier RJ, Yassour M, Mitchell CM. Comparison of vaginal microbiota between women with inflammatory bowel disease and healthy controls. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0284709. [PMID: 38019873 PMCID: PMC10686494 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The gut microbiota in patients with inflammatory bowel disease are perturbed in both composition and function. The vaginal microbiome and its role in the reproductive health of women with inflammatory bowel disease is less well described. OBJECTIVE We aim to compare the vaginal microbiota of women with inflammatory bowel disease to healthy controls. METHODS Women with inflammatory bowel disease enrolled in a longitudinal cohort study provided self-collected vaginal swabs. Healthy controls underwent provider-collected vaginal swabs at routine gynecologic exams. All participants completed surveys on health history, vulvovaginal symptoms and gastrointestinal symptoms, if applicable. Microbiota were characterized by sequencing the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. Associations between patient characteristics and microbial community composition were evaluated by PERMANOVA and Principal Components Analysis. Lactobacillus dominance of the microbial community was compared between groups using chi-square and Poisson regression. RESULTS The cohort included 54 women with inflammatory bowel disease (25 Ulcerative colitis, 25 Crohn's Disease) and 26 controls. A majority, 72 (90%) were White; 17 (31%) with inflammatory bowel disease and 7 (27%) controls were postmenopausal. The composition of the vaginal microbiota did not vary significantly by diagnosis or severity of inflammatory bowel disease but did vary by menopausal status (p = 0.042). There were no significant differences in Shannon Diversity Index between healthy controls and women with IBD in premenopausal participants. There was no difference in proportion of Lactobacillus dominance according to diagnosis in premenopausal participants. A subgroup of postmenopausal women with Ulcerative colitis showed a significant higher alpha diversity and a lack of Lactobacillus dominance in the vaginal microbiome. CONCLUSIONS Menopausal status had a larger impact on vaginal microbial communities than inflammatory bowel disease diagnosis or severity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ofri Bar
- Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Leanna S. Sudhof
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Laura J. Yockey
- Departments of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Agnes Bergerat
- Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Nadav Moriel
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Elizabeth Andrews
- Departments of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Ashwin N. Ananthakrishnan
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Departments of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Ramnik J. Xavier
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Departments of Molecular Biology and Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Broad Institute, Boston MA, United States of America
| | - Moran Yassour
- The Rachel and Selim Benin School of Computer Science and Engineering, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Caroline M. Mitchell
- Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
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