The microbiota continuum along the female reproductive tract and its relation to uterine-related diseases

Chen Chen, Xiaolei Song, Weixia Wei, Huanzi Zhong, Juanjuan Dai, Zhou Lan, Fei Li, Xinlei Yu, Qiang Feng, Zirong Wang, Hailiang Xie, Xiaomin Chen, Chunwei Zeng, Bo Wen, Liping Zeng, Hui Du, Huiru Tang, Changlu Xu, Yan Xia, Huihua XiaHuanming Yang, Jian Wang, Jun Wang, Lise Madsen, Susanne Brix, Karsten Kristiansen, Xun Xu, Junhua Li, Ruifang Wu, Huijue Jia

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Abstract

Reports on bacteria detected in maternal fluids during pregnancy are typically associated with adverse consequences, and whether the female reproductive tract harbours distinct microbial communities beyond the vagina has been a matter of debate. Here we systematically sample the microbiota within the female reproductive tract in 110 women of reproductive age, and examine the nature of colonisation by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and cultivation. We find distinct microbial communities in cervical canal, uterus, fallopian tubes and peritoneal fluid, differing from that of the vagina. The results reflect a microbiota continuum along the female reproductive tract, indicative of a non-sterile environment. We also identify microbial taxa and potential functions that correlate with the menstrual cycle or are over-represented in subjects with adenomyosis or infertility due to endometriosis. The study provides insight into the nature of the vagino-uterine microbiome, and suggests that surveying the vaginal or cervical microbiota might be useful for detection of common diseases in the upper reproductive tract.Whether the female reproductive tract harbours distinct microbiomes beyond the vagina has been a matter of debate. Here, the authors show a subject-specific continuity in microbial communities at six sites along the female reproductive tract, indicative of a non-sterile environment.
Original languageEnglish
Article number875
JournalNature Communications
Volume8
Issue number1
Number of pages11
ISSN2041-1723
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

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Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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