Dataset Information

Diversity of Cervical Microbiota in Asymptomatic Chlamydia trachomatis Genital Infection: A Pilot Study.

ABSTRACT: Chlamydia trachomatis genital infection continues to be an important public health problem worldwide due to its increasing incidence. C. trachomatis infection can lead to severe sequelae, such as pelvic inflammatory disease, obstructive infertility, and preterm birth. Recently, it has been suggested that the cervico-vaginal microbiota may be an important defense factor toward C. trachomatis infection as well as the development of chronic sequelae. Therefore, the investigation of microbial profiles associated to chlamydial infection is of the utmost importance. Here we present a pilot study aiming to characterize, through the metagenomic analysis of sequenced 16s rRNA gene amplicons, the cervical microbiota from reproductive age women positive to C. trachomatis infection. The main finding of our study showed a marked increase in bacterial diversity in asymptomatic C. trachomatis positive women as compared to healthy controls in terms of Shannon's diversity and Shannon's evenness (P = 0.031 and P = 0.026, respectively). More importantly, the cervical microbiota from C. trachomatis positive women and from healthy controls significantly separated into two clusters in the weighted UniFrac analysis (P = 0.0027), suggesting that differences between the two groups depended entirely on the relative abundance of bacterial taxa rather than on the types of bacterial taxa present. Furthermore, C. trachomatis positive women showed an overall decrease in Lactobacillus spp. and an increase in anaerobes. These findings are part of an ongoing larger epidemiological study that will evaluate the potential role of distinct bacterial communities of the cervical microbiota in C. trachomatis infection.

SUBMITTER: Filardo S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5509768 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Diversity of Cervical Microbiota in Asymptomatic Chlamydia trachomatis Genital Infection: A Pilot Study.

Filardo Simone S Di Pietro Marisa M Porpora Maria G MG Recine Nadia N Farcomeni Alessio A Latino Maria A MA Sessa Rosa R

Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology 20170714

Chlamydia trachomatis genital infection continues to be an important public health problem worldwide due to its increasing incidence. C. trachomatis infection can lead to severe sequelae, such as pelvic inflammatory disease, obstructive infertility, and preterm birth. Recently, it has been suggested that the cervico-vaginal microbiota may be an important defense factor toward C. trachomatis infection as well as the development of chronic sequelae. Therefore, the investigatio ...[more]

PMID: 28770172

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Project description:In vitro studies indicate IFNγ is central to Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) eradication, but its function may be compromised by anaerobes typically associated with bacterial vaginosis (BV), a frequent co-morbidity in women with Ct. Here we investigated the associations between natural clearance of cervical Ct infection, the vaginal microbiome, and the requirements for IFNγ by evaluating the vaginal microbial and cytokine composition of Ct treatment visit samples from women who cleared Ct infection in the interim between their Ct screening and Ct treatment visit. The pilot cohort was young, predominantly African American, and characterized by a high rate of BV that was treated with metronidazole at the Ct screening visit. The rate of natural Ct clearance was 23.6% by the Ct treatment visit (median 9 days). 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that metronidazole-treated women who had a Lactobacillus spp.-dominant vaginal microbiota (CST 2 or 3) at the Ct treatment visit, were more prevalent in the Ct clearing population than the non-clearing population (86% v. 50%). L. iners (CST2) was the major Lactobacillus spp. present in Ct clearers, and 33% still remained anaerobe-dominant (CST1). Vaginal IFNγ levels were not significantly different in Ct clearers and non-clearers and were several logs lower than that required for killing Ct in vitro. An expanded panel of IFNγ-induced and proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines also did not reveal differences between Ct clearers and non-clearers, but, rather, suggested signatures better associated with specific CSTs. Taken together, these findings suggest that BV-associated bacteria may impede Ct clearance, but a Lactobacillus spp.-dominant microbiome is not an absolute requirement to clear. Further, IFNγ may be required at lower concentrations than in vitro modeling indicates, suggesting it may act together with other factors in vivo. Data also revealed that the vaginal bacteria-driven inflammation add complexity to the genital cytokine milieu, but changes in this microbiota may contribute to, or provide cytokine biomarkers, for a shift to Ct clearance.

Dataset Information

Diversity of Cervical Microbiota in Asymptomatic Chlamydia trachomatis Genital Infection: A Pilot Study.

Publications

Diversity of Cervical Microbiota in Asymptomatic <i>Chlamydia trachomatis</i> Genital Infection: A Pilot Study.

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