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Review
. 2025 Feb 16;13(2):431.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms13020431.

The Vaginal Virome in Women's Health and Disease

Kyra l'Cess Orton  1   2 , Cynthia L Monaco  1   3
Affiliations
Review

The Vaginal Virome in Women's Health and Disease

Kyra l'Cess Orton et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

Most research on the vaginal microbiome has focused on bacterial communities (the bacteriome), but viruses, including eukaryotic viruses and bacteriophages, are also important players in vaginal health and disease states. In this review, we will briefly discuss the bacterial microbiome, delve into what is known about the vaginal virome and its impact on women's health, and finish with novel vaginal microbial or microbial-derived therapeutics on the horizon. More studies on the vaginal virome and its impact on women's health are needed to better prevent and treat gynecological, reproductive, and neonatal diseases.

Keywords: bacterial vaginosis; bacteriome; female reproductive tract; vaginal microbiota transplant; vaginal virome.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Community state type (CST) bacterial taxa composition. A representative synthetic bacteriome is graphed illustrating relative abundance of bacterial genera within each CST group.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Vaginal viral family relative abundance. Bacteriophages comprise the majority of the vaginal virome (Siphoviridae, Myoviridae, Rountreeviridae, Podoviridae, Quimbyviridae, Autographiviridae, and p-crAss-like phage), while eukaryotic viruses (Papillomaviridae, Anelloviridae, Herpesviridae, Poxviridae, Polyomaviridae, and Adenoviridae) comprise a small minority. Data based on [5,13].
Figure 3
Figure 3
The vaginal microbiome in health and disease. Callouts illustrate differences in the microenvironment in Lactobacillus-dominant versus non-Lactobacillus-dominant (i.e., BV) vaginal bacteriomes. Figure created in Biorender.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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