Characterization of the Gastrointestinal and Reproductive Tract Microbiota in Fertile and Infertile Pakistani Couples
The human microbiota is recognized as a vital “virtual” organ of the human body that influences human health, metabolism, and physiology. While the microbiomes of the gut, oral cavity, and skin have been extensively studied in the literature, relatively little work has been done on characterizing th...
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| author | Ammara Manzoor Saira Amir Farzana Gul Muhammad Abubakar Sidique Masood ur Rehman Kayani Syed Shujaat Ali Zaidi Sundus Javed Syed Tahir Abbas Shah Arshan Nasir |
| author_facet | Ammara Manzoor Saira Amir Farzana Gul Muhammad Abubakar Sidique Masood ur Rehman Kayani Syed Shujaat Ali Zaidi Sundus Javed Syed Tahir Abbas Shah Arshan Nasir |
| author_sort | Ammara Manzoor |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The human microbiota is recognized as a vital “virtual” organ of the human body that influences human health, metabolism, and physiology. While the microbiomes of the gut, oral cavity, and skin have been extensively studied in the literature, relatively little work has been done on characterizing the microbiota of the human reproductive tract organs, and specifically on investigating its association to fertility. Here, we implemented a 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) amplicon sequencing approach to sequence and characterize the gut and genital tract microbiomes from several married Pakistani couples. The recruited individuals included 31 fertile and 35 infertile individuals, with ages ranging from 19–45 years. We identified several fluctuations in the diversity and composition of the gut and genital microbiota among fertile and infertile samples. For example, measures of α-diversity varied significantly between the genital samples donated by fertile and infertile men and there was overall greater between-sample variability in genital samples regardless of gender. In terms of taxonomic composition, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes fluctuated significantly between the gut microbiomes of fertile and infertile samples. Finally, biomarker analyses identified features (genera and molecular functions and pathways) that differed significantly between the fertile and infertile samples and in the past have been associated with bacterial vaginosis. However, we emphasize that 16S amplicon data alone has no bearing on individual health and is merely representative of microbial taxonomic differences that could also arise due to multiple other factors. Our findings, however, represent the first effort to characterize the microbiome associated with fertile and infertile couples in Pakistan and will hopefully pave the way for more comprehensive and broad-scale investigations in the future. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:54:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c7a4d075f30a42999c009c5d056f4b67 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-7737 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:54:22Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-c7a4d075f30a42999c009c5d056f4b672023-11-23T13:00:08ZengMDPI AGBiology2079-77372021-12-011114010.3390/biology11010040Characterization of the Gastrointestinal and Reproductive Tract Microbiota in Fertile and Infertile Pakistani CouplesAmmara Manzoor0Saira Amir1Farzana Gul2Muhammad Abubakar Sidique3Masood ur Rehman Kayani4Syed Shujaat Ali Zaidi5Sundus Javed6Syed Tahir Abbas Shah7Arshan Nasir8Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad 45550, PakistanDepartment of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad 45550, PakistanDepartment of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad 45550, PakistanDepartment of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad 45550, PakistanIndependent Researcher, Los Alamos, NM 85545, USACenter for Innovation in Brain Science, Department of Neurology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85719, USADepartment of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad 45550, PakistanDepartment of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad 45550, PakistanDepartment of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad 45550, PakistanThe human microbiota is recognized as a vital “virtual” organ of the human body that influences human health, metabolism, and physiology. While the microbiomes of the gut, oral cavity, and skin have been extensively studied in the literature, relatively little work has been done on characterizing the microbiota of the human reproductive tract organs, and specifically on investigating its association to fertility. Here, we implemented a 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) amplicon sequencing approach to sequence and characterize the gut and genital tract microbiomes from several married Pakistani couples. The recruited individuals included 31 fertile and 35 infertile individuals, with ages ranging from 19–45 years. We identified several fluctuations in the diversity and composition of the gut and genital microbiota among fertile and infertile samples. For example, measures of α-diversity varied significantly between the genital samples donated by fertile and infertile men and there was overall greater between-sample variability in genital samples regardless of gender. In terms of taxonomic composition, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes fluctuated significantly between the gut microbiomes of fertile and infertile samples. Finally, biomarker analyses identified features (genera and molecular functions and pathways) that differed significantly between the fertile and infertile samples and in the past have been associated with bacterial vaginosis. However, we emphasize that 16S amplicon data alone has no bearing on individual health and is merely representative of microbial taxonomic differences that could also arise due to multiple other factors. Our findings, however, represent the first effort to characterize the microbiome associated with fertile and infertile couples in Pakistan and will hopefully pave the way for more comprehensive and broad-scale investigations in the future.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/1/40gut microbiomegenital microbiomeinfertility16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencingα-diversity |
| spellingShingle | Ammara Manzoor Saira Amir Farzana Gul Muhammad Abubakar Sidique Masood ur Rehman Kayani Syed Shujaat Ali Zaidi Sundus Javed Syed Tahir Abbas Shah Arshan Nasir Characterization of the Gastrointestinal and Reproductive Tract Microbiota in Fertile and Infertile Pakistani Couples Biology gut microbiome genital microbiome infertility 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing α-diversity |
| title | Characterization of the Gastrointestinal and Reproductive Tract Microbiota in Fertile and Infertile Pakistani Couples |
| title_full | Characterization of the Gastrointestinal and Reproductive Tract Microbiota in Fertile and Infertile Pakistani Couples |
| title_fullStr | Characterization of the Gastrointestinal and Reproductive Tract Microbiota in Fertile and Infertile Pakistani Couples |
| title_full_unstemmed | Characterization of the Gastrointestinal and Reproductive Tract Microbiota in Fertile and Infertile Pakistani Couples |
| title_short | Characterization of the Gastrointestinal and Reproductive Tract Microbiota in Fertile and Infertile Pakistani Couples |
| title_sort | characterization of the gastrointestinal and reproductive tract microbiota in fertile and infertile pakistani couples |
| topic | gut microbiome genital microbiome infertility 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing α-diversity |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/1/40 |
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