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. 2022 Oct 21;17(1):53.
doi: 10.1186/s13027-022-00465-9.

Lactobacillus crispatus M247 oral administration: Is it really an effective strategy in the management of papillomavirus-infected women?

Miriam Dellino #  1   2 , Eliano Cascardi #  3   4 , Antonio Simone Laganà  5 , Giovanni Di Vagno  6 , Antonio Malvasi  7 , Rosanna Zaccaro  6 , Katia Maggipinto  6 , Gerardo Cazzato  8 , Salvatore Scacco  9 , Raffaele Tinelli  10 , Alessandro De Luca  7 , Marina Vinciguerra  6 , Vera Loizzi  11 , Antonella Daniele  12 , Ettore Cicinelli  7 , Carmine Carriero  7 , Chiara Antonia Genco  13 , Gennaro Cormio  11 , Vincenzo Pinto  7
Affiliations

Lactobacillus crispatus M247 oral administration: Is it really an effective strategy in the management of papillomavirus-infected women?

Miriam Dellino et al. Infect Agent Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: Recent studies have shown the importance of the microbiota in women's health. Indeed, the persistence of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)-related lesions in patients with dysbiosis can be the antechamber to cervical cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether long term administration of oral Lactobacillus crispatus can restore eubiosis in women with HPV infections and hence achieve viral clearance.

Methods: In total, 160 women affected by HPV infections were enrolled at the Department of Gynecological Obstetrics of "San Paolo" Hospital, Italy between February 2021 and February 2022. The women were randomly assigned to two groups, one in treatment with oral Lactobacillus crispatus M247 (group 1, n = 80) versus the control group, that hence only in follow-up (Group 2, n = 80).

Results: After a median follow-up of 12 months (range 10-30 months), the likelihood of resolving HPV-related cytological anomalies was higher in patients in treatment with the long term oral probiotic (group 1) versus the group that perfom only follow-up (group 2) (60.5% vs. 41.3%, p = 0.05). Total HPV clearance was shown in 9.3% of patients undergoing only follow-up compared to 15.3% of patients in the group taking long term oral Lactobacillus crispatus M247 (p = 0.34). However, the percentage of HPV-negative patients, assessed with the HPV-DNA test, documented at the end of the study period was not significantly different from the control group.

Conclusions: Despite the limitations of our analysis, we found a higher percentage of clearance of PAP-smear abnormalities in patients who took long term oral Lactobacillus crispatus M247 than in the control group. Larger studies are warranted, but we believe that future research should be aimed in this direction. Trial registration This study is retrospectively registered.

Keywords: HPV infection; Lactobacillus crispatus M247; Microbiota; Papillomaviridae; Probiotics; Uterine cervical neoplasms.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors declare that they have no commercial associations (e.g. consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangement etc.) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Vaginal microbiota and correlation with risk of cervical dysplasia. NILM negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy, LSIL low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, HSIL high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, CC cervical cancer
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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