Cervicovaginal mucus barrier properties during pregnancy are impacted by the vaginal microbiome

Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Hannah C. Zierden¹  Victoria Laney¹  Nicole Hernández¹  Justin Hanes²  Laura M. Ensign³  Fareeha Zulfiqar⁴  Kevin DeLong⁴  Sabrine Bensouda⁴  Jairo Ortiz Ortiz⁴  Thuy M. Hoang⁵  Anne E. Burke⁶  Samuel K. Lai⁷ 

[1] Center for Nanomedicine at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States;Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States;Center for Nanomedicine at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States;Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States;Department of Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States;Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States;Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States;Center for Nanomedicine at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States;Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States;Department of Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States;Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States;Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States;Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States;Center for Nanomedicine at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States;Department of Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States;Center for Nanomedicine at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States;Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States;Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States;Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina/North Carolina State University (UNC/NCSU) Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States;

关键词: vaginal microbiome;    drug delivery;    mucus;    pregnancy;    preterm birth (PTB);   

DOI  :  10.3389/fcimb.2023.1015625

 received in 2022-08-09, accepted in 2023-02-27,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionMucus in the female reproductive tract acts as a barrier that traps and eliminates pathogens and foreign particles via steric and adhesive interactions. During pregnancy, mucus protects the uterine environment from ascension of pathogens and bacteria from the vagina into the uterus, a potential contributor to intrauterine inflammation and preterm birth. As recent work has demonstrated the benefit of vaginal drug delivery in treating women’s health indications, we sought to define the barrier properties of human cervicovaginal mucus (CVM) during pregnancy to inform the design of vaginally delivered therapeutics during pregnancy.MethodsCVM samples were self-collected by pregnant participants over the course of pregnancy, and barrier properties were quantified using multiple particle tracking. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed to analyze the composition of the vaginal microbiome.ResultsParticipant demographics differed between term delivery and preterm delivery cohorts, with Black or African American participants being significantly more likely to delivery prematurely. We observed that vaginal microbiota is most predictive of CVM barrier properties and of timing of parturition. Lactobacillus crispatus dominated CVM samples showed increased barrier properties compared to polymicrobial CVM samples.DiscussionThis work informs our understanding of how infections occur during pregnancy, and directs the engineering of targeted drug treatments for indications during pregnancy.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Zierden, DeLong, Zulfiqar, Ortiz, Laney, Bensouda, Hernández, Hoang, Lai, Hanes, Burke and Ensign