An Altered Microbiota in the Lower and Upper Female Reproductive Tract of Women with Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion
ABSTRACT Recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) is a complex multifactorial disease. Recently, the microbiota of the female reproductive tract, as an emerging factor in RSA, has gradually attracted the attention of many clinical researchers. Here, we reported that the microbiota of the lower and upper...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Society for Microbiology
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Microbiology Spectrum |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.00462-22 |
| _version_ | 1818218536043020288 |
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| author | Fen-Ting Liu Shuo Yang Zi Yang Ping Zhou Tianliu Peng Jingwen Yin Zhenhong Ye Hongying Shan Yang Yu Rong Li |
| author_facet | Fen-Ting Liu Shuo Yang Zi Yang Ping Zhou Tianliu Peng Jingwen Yin Zhenhong Ye Hongying Shan Yang Yu Rong Li |
| author_sort | Fen-Ting Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) is a complex multifactorial disease. Recently, the microbiota of the female reproductive tract, as an emerging factor in RSA, has gradually attracted the attention of many clinical researchers. Here, we reported that the microbiota of the lower and upper female reproductive tracts from patients with RSA showed no significant differences in alpha diversity compared to that of controls. Beta diversity was significantly higher in the RSA group than in the control group in the vaginal microbiota (P = 0.036), cervical microbiota (P = 0.010) and microbiota from uterine lavage fluid (P = 0.001). In addition, dramatic decreases in gamma interferon and interleukin-6 cytokine levels were observed in the RSA group. In conclusion, our data suggested altered microbial biodiversity in the vagina, cervix and uterine lavage fluid in the RSA group. Alterations in the microbiota in the uterine cavity could be associated with altered cytokine levels, which might be a risk factor for RSA pathogenesis. Moreover, the microbiota composition differed markedly from the lower genital tract to the uterine cavity, and the microbiota in the uterine cavity also distinctly varied between endometrial tissue and uterine lavage fluid in the RSA group. Hence, sampling with these two methods simultaneously allowed a more comprehensive perspective of microbial colonization in the uterine cavity. IMPORTANCE As an obstacle to pregnancy, recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) can be caused by a variety of factors, and a current understanding of the etiology of RSA is still lacking; half of cases have an unknown cause. A substantial fraction of patients show no improvement after treatment. Since the microbiota of the female reproductive tract has been proposed as an emerging factor in RSA patients, further investigation is needed to provide guidance for clinical therapy. In general, this is the first report describing the distinct alterations of the vaginal, cervical, and uterine microbiota in RSA, not just that in the vagina. Furthermore, another major strength of this study derived from the further in-depth investigation and analysis of the characteristics of the microbiota colonizing the upper female genital tract in RSA, which provided a more comprehensive view for investigating the uterine microbiota. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T07:25:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e54fe7fb8d2a488bbbd905eb677aec13 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2165-0497 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T07:25:19Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | American Society for Microbiology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Microbiology Spectrum |
| spelling | doaj.art-e54fe7fb8d2a488bbbd905eb677aec132022-12-22T00:33:11ZengAmerican Society for MicrobiologyMicrobiology Spectrum2165-04972022-06-0110310.1128/spectrum.00462-22An Altered Microbiota in the Lower and Upper Female Reproductive Tract of Women with Recurrent Spontaneous AbortionFen-Ting Liu0Shuo Yang1Zi Yang2Ping Zhou3Tianliu Peng4Jingwen Yin5Zhenhong Ye6Hongying Shan7Yang Yu8Rong Li9Center for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, ChinaCenter for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, ChinaCenter for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, ChinaCenter for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, ChinaCenter for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, ChinaCenter for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, ChinaCenter for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, ChinaCenter for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, ChinaCenter for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, ChinaCenter for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, ChinaABSTRACT Recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) is a complex multifactorial disease. Recently, the microbiota of the female reproductive tract, as an emerging factor in RSA, has gradually attracted the attention of many clinical researchers. Here, we reported that the microbiota of the lower and upper female reproductive tracts from patients with RSA showed no significant differences in alpha diversity compared to that of controls. Beta diversity was significantly higher in the RSA group than in the control group in the vaginal microbiota (P = 0.036), cervical microbiota (P = 0.010) and microbiota from uterine lavage fluid (P = 0.001). In addition, dramatic decreases in gamma interferon and interleukin-6 cytokine levels were observed in the RSA group. In conclusion, our data suggested altered microbial biodiversity in the vagina, cervix and uterine lavage fluid in the RSA group. Alterations in the microbiota in the uterine cavity could be associated with altered cytokine levels, which might be a risk factor for RSA pathogenesis. Moreover, the microbiota composition differed markedly from the lower genital tract to the uterine cavity, and the microbiota in the uterine cavity also distinctly varied between endometrial tissue and uterine lavage fluid in the RSA group. Hence, sampling with these two methods simultaneously allowed a more comprehensive perspective of microbial colonization in the uterine cavity. IMPORTANCE As an obstacle to pregnancy, recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) can be caused by a variety of factors, and a current understanding of the etiology of RSA is still lacking; half of cases have an unknown cause. A substantial fraction of patients show no improvement after treatment. Since the microbiota of the female reproductive tract has been proposed as an emerging factor in RSA patients, further investigation is needed to provide guidance for clinical therapy. In general, this is the first report describing the distinct alterations of the vaginal, cervical, and uterine microbiota in RSA, not just that in the vagina. Furthermore, another major strength of this study derived from the further in-depth investigation and analysis of the characteristics of the microbiota colonizing the upper female genital tract in RSA, which provided a more comprehensive view for investigating the uterine microbiota.https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.00462-22cervical microbiotainflammationrecurrent spontaneous abortionuterine microbiotavaginal microbiota |
| spellingShingle | Fen-Ting Liu Shuo Yang Zi Yang Ping Zhou Tianliu Peng Jingwen Yin Zhenhong Ye Hongying Shan Yang Yu Rong Li An Altered Microbiota in the Lower and Upper Female Reproductive Tract of Women with Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion Microbiology Spectrum cervical microbiota inflammation recurrent spontaneous abortion uterine microbiota vaginal microbiota |
| title | An Altered Microbiota in the Lower and Upper Female Reproductive Tract of Women with Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion |
| title_full | An Altered Microbiota in the Lower and Upper Female Reproductive Tract of Women with Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion |
| title_fullStr | An Altered Microbiota in the Lower and Upper Female Reproductive Tract of Women with Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Altered Microbiota in the Lower and Upper Female Reproductive Tract of Women with Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion |
| title_short | An Altered Microbiota in the Lower and Upper Female Reproductive Tract of Women with Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion |
| title_sort | altered microbiota in the lower and upper female reproductive tract of women with recurrent spontaneous abortion |
| topic | cervical microbiota inflammation recurrent spontaneous abortion uterine microbiota vaginal microbiota |
| url | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.00462-22 |
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