Kushal Gandhi1, Paula Gutierrez1,2, John Garza1,2, Taylor J Gray Wlazlo1, Rebecca J Meiser1, Samuel David3, Maira Carrillo4, Madhusudhanan Narasimhan5, Michael Galloway1, Gary Ventolini6. 1. School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) of the Permian Basin, Odessa, TX, USA. 2. University of Texas Permian Basin (UTPB), Odessa, TX, USA. 3. Shepherd University, Shepherdstown, WV, USA. 4. Odessa University, Odessa, TX, USA. 5. Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC), Lubbock, TX, USA. 6. School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) of the Permian Basin, Odessa, TX, USA - gary.ventolini@ttuhsc.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to identify vaginal Lactobacillus spp. and quantify vaginal inflammatory cytokines in primigravida vs. multigravida women and pregnant vs. non-pregnant women. METHODS: Vaginal swabs were obtained from four groups of patients. A real-time PCR was carried out to identify the Lactobacillus spp. Multiplex immunoassays were performed to quantify a total of 27 cytokines using the Bio-Plex MAGPIX multiplex reader and MesoQuick Plex SQ 120 (Meso Scale Diagnostics LLC, Rockville, MD, USA). Inferential statistics using hypothesis tests were applied to detect differences in cytokine levels. RESULTS: Significant differences in cytokines and chemokines exist among the four populations of women studied. IP-10 is significantly higher in multigravida women as compared to primigravida women. IFN-γ, MCP-1, MIP-1β, IL-2 and IL-10 are significantly higher in non-pregnant women compared to pregnant women. L. iners was the most abundant species in multigravida, pregnant and non-pregnant patients, while L. crispatus was the most abundant species in primigravida patients. Significant differences in the levels of MIP-1β, TNF-α, PDGF-BB, VEGF-A, IL-12, and IL-10 exist between women identified with Lactobacillus species and women not identified with Lactobacillus species. CONCLUSIONS: There were significant differences regarding cytokines, chemokines, and Lactobacillus spp. among four groups of studied patients. With these results, we increase our understanding of the role that vaginal cytokines and Lactobacillus species have during pregnancy, with the goal that this novel research will be useful for examining vaginal biomarkers in obstetrical conditions.
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to identify vaginal Lactobacillus spp. and quantify vaginal inflammatory cytokines in primigravida vs. multigravida women and pregnant vs. non-pregnant women. METHODS: Vaginal swabs were obtained from four groups of patients. A real-time PCR was carried out to identify the Lactobacillus spp. Multiplex immunoassays were performed to quantify a total of 27 cytokines using the Bio-Plex MAGPIX multiplex reader and MesoQuick Plex SQ 120 (Meso Scale Diagnostics LLC, Rockville, MD, USA). Inferential statistics using hypothesis tests were applied to detect differences in cytokine levels. RESULTS: Significant differences in cytokines and chemokines exist among the four populations of women studied. IP-10 is significantly higher in multigravida women as compared to primigravida women. IFN-γ, MCP-1, MIP-1β, IL-2 and IL-10 are significantly higher in non-pregnant women compared to pregnant women. L. iners was the most abundant species in multigravida, pregnant and non-pregnant patients, while L. crispatus was the most abundant species in primigravida patients. Significant differences in the levels of MIP-1β, TNF-α, PDGF-BB, VEGF-A, IL-12, and IL-10 exist between women identified with Lactobacillus species and women not identified with Lactobacillus species. CONCLUSIONS: There were significant differences regarding cytokines, chemokines, and Lactobacillus spp. among four groups of studied patients. With these results, we increase our understanding of the role that vaginal cytokines and Lactobacillus species have during pregnancy, with the goal that this novel research will be useful for examining vaginal biomarkers in obstetrical conditions.
Authors: Gary Ventolini; Pedro Vieira-Baptista; Francesco De Seta; Hans Verstraelen; Risa Lonnee-Hoffmann; Ahinoam Lev-Sagie Journal: J Low Genit Tract Dis Date: 2022-01-01 Impact factor: 1.925