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. 2022 Nov 30;10(12):2368.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms10122368.

Lower Genital Tract Microbiome in Early Pregnancy in the Eastern European Population

Mariya Gryaznova  1   2 , Olga Lebedeva  1   3 , Olesya Kozarenko  1   4 , Yuliya Smirnova  1   2 , Inna Burakova  1 , Mikhail Syromyatnikov  1   2 , Alexander Maslov  1   5 , Vasily Popov  1   2
Affiliations

Lower Genital Tract Microbiome in Early Pregnancy in the Eastern European Population

Mariya Gryaznova et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

Background: It is known that the features of the cervicovaginal microbiome can depend on ethnicity, which might be caused by genetic factors, as well as differences in diet and lifestyle. There is no research on the cervicovaginal microbiome of Eastern European women during early pregnancy.

Methods: We evaluated the cervical and cervicovaginal microbiome of women with first-trimester pregnancy (n = 22), further delivered at term, using the 16S rRNA sequencing method.

Results: The predominant bacterial species in both groups was Lactobacillus iners, followed by Prevotella copri, Ileibacterium valens, Gardnerella vaginalis and Muribaculum intestinale in the cervical samples, and Gardnerella vaginalis, Prevotella copri, Bifidobacterium longum, Ileibacterium valens and Muribaculum intestinale in the cervicovaginal samples. The cervical microbiome had higher alpha diversity; a higher abundance of Muribaculum intestinale, Aquabacterium parvum and Methyloversatilis universalis; and a lower abundance of Psychrobacillus psychrodurans.

Conclusions: The Lactobacillus iners-dominated microbiome (CST III) was the predominant type of cervical and cervicovaginal microbiome in early pregnancy in the majority of the women. The presence of soil and animal bacteria in the cervicovaginal microbiome can be explained by the rural origin of patients.

Keywords: 16S rRNA; Lactobacillus inners; NGS; cervical microbiome; early pregnancy; female genital tract; first trimester; sequencing; vaginal microbiome.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Bacterial species were detected in the studied samples using sequencing.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bacterial species that form the microbiome core in both study groups.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Shannon index as an indicator of alpha diversity for the studied groups (p = 0.0181).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Correlation matrix describing the relationship between microorganisms in the cervical canal group.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Correlation matrix describing the relationship between microorganisms in the cervical canal + vagina group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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