Published online Dec 6, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i34.12578
Peer-review started: August 1, 2022
First decision: August 21, 2022
Revised: September 1, 2022
Accepted: November 14, 2022
Article in press: November 14, 2022
Published online: December 6, 2022
The vaginal microbiome significantly affects vaginal homeostasis. Hence, understanding the vaginal microbiome is essential for vaginal health. Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a gram-positive bacterium that transiently and asymptomatically colonizes the vagina and gastrointestinal tracts of healthy women. However, the correlation between GBS status and vaginal cleanliness with the vaginal microbiome is still elusive.
This study explored the effects of GBS status and vaginal cleanliness on vaginal microecosystems. This study would provide instructional information for clinical antibiotic treatment in pregnant women with different GBS statuses and vaginal cleanliness degrees.
We aimed to investigate the effects of GBS status and vaginal cleanliness on the vaginal microbiome of pregnant women.
We collected 160 vaginal swabs from pregnant women and divided them into the following four groups based on GBS status and vaginal cleanliness: GBS-positive + vaginal cleanliness I–II degree, GBS-negative + vaginal cleanliness I–II degree, GBS-positive + vaginal cleanliness III–IV degree, and GBS-negative + vaginal cleanliness III–IV degree. Samples were subjected to 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing.
Alpha diversity analysis showed that the Shannon index did not significantly differ between the four groups. We identified significant variation in taxa abundance between the GBS-positive and GBS-negative groups and between the vaginal cleanliness I–II degree and III–IV degree groups. Principal coordinate analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis further confirmed the microbial diversity of the four groups. Moreover, the linear discriminant analysis demonstrated that Lactobacillus jensenii and Actinobacteria were strongly associated with GBS-positive status, and Lactobacillus iners, Lactobacillaceae, Lactobacillus, Lactobacillales, Bacilli and Firmicutes were closely correlated with GBS-negative status.
We identified several specific vaginal microbiomes, including Lactobacillus iners, Prevotella timonensis, and Sneathia amnii, in patients with varying GBS statuses. We also found that Lactobacillus jensenii and Actinobacteria were particularly associated with GBS-positive status, and Lactobacillus iners, Lactobacillaceae, Lactobacillus, Lactobacillales, Bacilli, Firmicutes, and Bacteria strongly correlated with GBS-negative status.
Our findings provide new insights into understanding the vaginal microenvironment, presenting a landscape of the association of GBS status and vaginal cleanliness with the vaginal microbiome of pregnant women. Our results provide instructional information for clinical antibiotic treatment in pregnant women with different GBS statuses and vaginal cleanliness degrees.