Replication and refinement of a vaginal microbial signature of preterm birth in two racially distinct cohorts of US women.

ABSTRACT: Preterm birth (PTB) is the leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Previous studies have suggested that the maternal vaginal microbiota contributes to the pathophysiology of PTB, but conflicting results in recent years have raised doubts. We conducted a study of PTB compared with term birth in two cohorts of pregnant women: one predominantly Caucasian (n = 39) at low risk for PTB, the second predominantly African American and at high-risk (n = 96). We profiled the taxonomic composition of 2,179 vaginal swabs collected prospectively and weekly during gestation using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Previously proposed associations between PTB and lower Lactobacillus and higher Gardnerella abundances replicated in the low-risk cohort, but not in the high-risk

SUBMITTER: Callahan BJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5604014 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature