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Exploratory comparison of vaginal glycogen and Lactobacillus levels in premenopausal and postmenopausal women.

ABSTRACT: Previous studies have suggested that glycogen expression in the vaginal epithelium decreases during menopause, resulting in reduced levels of lactobacilli. However, free glycogen in genital fluids and its relationship with Lactobacillus levels have not been compared in premenopausal and postmenopausal women.Eighty-two cervicovaginal lavage samples were collected at different phases of the menstrual cycle from 11 premenopausal (4 HIV-uninfected and 7 HIV-infected) and 12 postmenopausal (7 HIV-uninfected and 5 HIV-infected) women during a 1- to 3-month period. Free glycogen was quantified in genital fluids. Lactobacillus levels were quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Estrogen and progesterone levels in blood were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Free glycogen was detected in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Across all samples, those from postmenopausal women had significantly lower levels of free glycogen than those from premenopausal women (median, 0.002 vs 0.065 ?g/?L, respectively; P = 0.03). Lactobacillus levels correlated positively with free glycogen in both premenopausal (Spearman r = 0.68, P < 0.0001) and postmenopausal (r = 0.60, P < 0.002) women. Samples from premenopausal women had higher Lactobacillus levels and lower vaginal pH (median log, 8.1; median pH, 4) than those from postmenopausal women (median log, 7.1; median pH, 4.6), although these differences were not significant. HIV status had no significant effect on these relationships.Free glycogen is detected in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women and correlates with Lactobacillus in both groups. These results point to the complexity of the relationship between menopause and vaginal microbiota and indicate that more careful studies of the role of glycogen are warranted.

SUBMITTER: Mirmonsef P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4476965 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Exploratory comparison of vaginal glycogen and Lactobacillus levels in premenopausal and postmenopausal women.

Mirmonsef Paria P Modur Sharada S Burgad Derick D Gilbert Douglas D Golub Elizabeth T ET French Audrey L AL McCotter Kerrie K Landay Alan L AL Spear Greg T GT

Menopause (New York, N.Y.) 20150701 7

<h4>Objective</h4>Previous studies have suggested that glycogen expression in the vaginal epithelium decreases during menopause, resulting in reduced levels of lactobacilli. However, free glycogen in genital fluids and its relationship with Lactobacillus levels have not been compared in premenopausal and postmenopausal women.<h4>Methods</h4>Eighty-two cervicovaginal lavage samples were collected at different phases of the menstrual cycle from 11 premenopausal (4 HIV-uninfected and 7 HIV-infected ...[more]

PMID: 25535963

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Project description:For decades hormone therapy (HT) has been prescribed to treat the symptoms of menopause, such as vaginal dryness, itching and burning. Here we sought to compare the vaginal microbiomes of postmenopausal women who received low dose estrogen therapy to those of premenopausal and postmenopausal women, and to do so in conjunction with assessing the alleviation of symptoms associated with vaginal atrophy. In this study vaginal swab samples were obtained from 45 women who were classified as either premenopausal, postmenopausal, or postmenopausal and undergoing HT. The vaginal microbiomes of these women were characterized by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and bacterial abundances were quantified by qPCR. We found that the vaginal communities from our cohort could be divided into six clusters (A-F) based on differences in the composition and relative abundances of bacterial taxa. Communities in cluster A were dominated by Lactobacillus crispatus, and those of cluster B were dominated by Gardnerella vaginalis. Communities in cluster C had high proportions of L. iners, while those in cluster D were more even and included several co-dominant taxa. Communities in clusters E and F were dominated by Bifidobacterium and L. gasseri, respectively. The vaginal communities of most postmenopausal women receiving HT (10/15) were dominated by species of lactobacilli and belonged to clusters A, C, and F (P < 0.001). This sharply contrasts with vaginal communities of postmenopausal women without HT, most of which (10/15) were in cluster D, depleted of lactobacilli, and had about 10-fold fewer total bacteria (P < 0.05). The vaginal communities of women in each study group differed in terms of the dominant bacterial species composition and relative abundance. Those of postmenopausal women receiving HT significantly differed from those of postmenopausal women without HT and were most often dominated by species of Lactobacillus. Noteworthy, HT greatly improved vaginal atrophy scores, decreased vaginal pH, and significantly increased bacterial numbers in comparison to postmenopausal women not receiving HT.

Project description:BackgroundThe vaginal microbiota can be altered by uropathogenic bacteria associated with recurrent cystitis (RC), and the vaginal administration of Lactobacillus have suggested certain effects to prevent RC. The relationship between vaginal microbiota and the development of RC has not been elucidated. We aimed to clarify the etiology of RC from vaginal microbiota and importance of vaginal Lactobacillus.MethodsVaginal samples obtained from 39 postmenopausal women were classified into four groups: healthy controls; uncomplicated cystitis; RC; and prevention (prevented RC by Lactobacillus crispatus-containing vaginal suppositories). Principal coordinate analysis and beta-diversity analysis was used to assess 16S rRNA gene sequencing data from the vaginal microbiome.ResultsCluster analysis divided the vaginal bacterial communities among 129 vaginal samples into three clusters (A, B, and C). Fourteen of 14 (100%) samples from the RC group and 51 of 53 (96%) samples from the prevention group were in clusters B and C, while 29 of 38 (76%) samples from the healthy group and 14 of 24 (58%) samples from the uncomplicated cystitis group were in cluster A. The principal coordinate analysis showed that plots in the uncomplicated cystitis group were similar to the healthy group, indicating a large separation between the RC group and the uncomplicated cystitis group. On beta-diversity analysis, there were significant differences between the healthy group and the uncomplicated cystitis group (p = 0.045), and between the RC group and the uncomplicated cystitis group or the healthy group (p = 0.001, p = 0.001, respectively). There were no significant differences between the RC group and the prevention group (p = 0.446). The top six taxa were as follows: Prevotella, Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Enterobacteriaceae, Anaerococcus, and Bifidobacterium. Among patients with RC, Lactobacillus was undetectable before administration of suppositories, while the median relative abundance of Lactobacillus was 19% during administration of suppositories (p = 0.0211), reducing the average cystitis episodes per year (6.3 vs. 2.4, p = 0.0015).ConclusionThe vaginal microbiota of postmenopausal women with RC is differed from healthy controls and uncomplicated cystitis in terms of lack of Lactobacillus and relatively dominant of Enterobacteriaceae. Vaginal administration of Lactobacillus-containing suppositories can prevent RC by stabilizing vaginal dysbiosis and causing a loss of pathogenic bacteria virulence.

Dataset Information

Exploratory comparison of vaginal glycogen and Lactobacillus levels in premenopausal and postmenopausal women.

Publications

Exploratory comparison of vaginal glycogen and Lactobacillus levels in premenopausal and postmenopausal women.

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