A Human Microbiota-Associated Murine Model for Assessing the Impact of the Vaginal Microbiota on Pregnancy Outcomes

Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

卷:10

Alexandra A. Wolfarth¹  Andrew S. Neish¹  David VanInsberghe¹  Taylor M. Smith¹  Rheinallt M. Jones²  Elizabeth J. Corwin³  Anne Lang Dunlop³ 

[1] Department of Pathology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States;

[2] Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States;

[3] Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States;

关键词: vaginal microbiota;    bacterial vaginosis (BV);    humanization;    pregnancy;    inflammation;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fcimb.2020.570025

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Disease states are often linked to large scale changes in microbial community structure that obscure the contributions of individual microbes to disease. Establishing a mechanistic understanding of how microbial community structure contribute to certain diseases, however, remains elusive thereby limiting our ability to develop successful microbiome-based therapeutics. Human microbiota-associated (HMA) mice have emerged as a powerful approach for directly testing the influence of microbial communities on host health and disease, with the transfer of disease phenotypes from humans to germ-free recipient mice widely reported. We developed a HMA mouse model of the human vaginal microbiota to interrogate the effects of Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) on pregnancy outcomes. We collected vaginal swabs from 19 pregnant African American women with and without BV (diagnosed per Nugent score) to colonize female germ-free mice and measure its impact on birth outcomes. There was considerable variability in the microbes that colonized each mouse, with no association to the BV status of the microbiota donor. Although some of the women in the study had adverse birth outcomes, the vaginal microbiota was not predictive of adverse birth outcomes in mice. However, elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the uterus of HMA mice were detected during pregnancy. Together, these data outline the potential uses and limitations of HMA mice to elucidate the influence of the vaginal microbiota on health and disease.

【 授权许可】

Unknown