Vaginal Microbiota of Adolescent Girls Prior to the Onset of Menarche Resemble Those of Reproductive-Age Women

ABSTRACT Puberty is an important developmental stage wherein hormonal shifts mediate the physical and physiological changes that lead to menarche, but until now, the bacterial composition of vaginal microbiota during this period has been poorly characterized. We performed a prospective longitudinal...

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Autores principales:	Roxana J. Hickey, Xia Zhou, Matthew L. Settles, Julie Erb, Kristin Malone, Melanie A. Hansmann, Marcia L. Shew, Barbara Van Der Pol, J. Dennis Fortenberry, Larry J. Forney
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2015
Materias:	Microbiology QR1-502
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/9863a80eee53440d8fdba4b1f4a25372
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:9863a80eee53440d8fdba4b1f4a253722021-11-15T15:41:34ZVaginal Microbiota of Adolescent Girls Prior to the Onset of Menarche Resemble Those of Reproductive-Age Women10.1128/mBio.00097-152150-7511https://doaj.org/article/9863a80eee53440d8fdba4b1f4a253722015-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mBio.00097-15https://doaj.org/toc/2150-7511ABSTRACT Puberty is an important developmental stage wherein hormonal shifts mediate the physical and physiological changes that lead to menarche, but until now, the bacterial composition of vaginal microbiota during this period has been poorly characterized. We performed a prospective longitudinal study of perimenarcheal girls to gain insight into the timing and sequence of changes that occur in the vaginal and vulvar microbiota during puberty. The study enrolled 31 healthy, premenarcheal girls between the ages of 10 and 12 years and collected vaginal and vulvar swabs quarterly for up to 3 years. Bacterial composition was characterized by Roche 454 pyrosequencing and classification of regions V1 to V3 of 16S rRNA genes. Contrary to expectations, lactic acid bacteria, primarily Lactobacillus spp., were dominant in the microbiota of most girls well before the onset of menarche in the early to middle stages of puberty. Gardnerella vaginalis was detected at appreciable levels in approximately one-third of subjects, a notable finding considering that this organism is commonly associated with bacterial vaginosis in adults. Vulvar microbiota closely resembled vaginal microbiota but often exhibited additional taxa typically associated with skin microbiota. Our findings suggest that the vaginal microbiota of girls begin to resemble those of adults well before the onset of menarche. IMPORTANCE This study addresses longitudinal changes in vaginal and vulvar microbial communities prior to and immediately following menarche. The research is significant because microbial ecology of the vagina is an integral aspect of health, including resistance to infections. The physiologic changes of puberty and initiation of cyclic menstruation are likely to have profound effects on vaginal microbiota, but almost nothing is known about changes that normally occur during this time. Our understanding has been especially hampered by the lack of thorough characterization of microbial communities using techniques that do not rely on the cultivation of fastidious bacteria, as well as a dearth of studies on girls in the early to middle stages of puberty. This study improves our understanding of the normal development of vaginal microbiota during puberty and onset of menarche and may better inform clinical approaches to vulvovaginal care of adolescent girls.Roxana J. HickeyXia ZhouMatthew L. SettlesJulie ErbKristin MaloneMelanie A. HansmannMarcia L. ShewBarbara Van Der PolJ. Dennis FortenberryLarry J. ForneyAmerican Society for MicrobiologyarticleMicrobiologyQR1-502ENmBio, Vol 6, Iss 2 (2015)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Microbiology QR1-502
spellingShingle	Microbiology QR1-502 Roxana J. Hickey Xia Zhou Matthew L. Settles Julie Erb Kristin Malone Melanie A. Hansmann Marcia L. Shew Barbara Van Der Pol J. Dennis Fortenberry Larry J. Forney Vaginal Microbiota of Adolescent Girls Prior to the Onset of Menarche Resemble Those of Reproductive-Age Women
description	ABSTRACT Puberty is an important developmental stage wherein hormonal shifts mediate the physical and physiological changes that lead to menarche, but until now, the bacterial composition of vaginal microbiota during this period has been poorly characterized. We performed a prospective longitudinal study of perimenarcheal girls to gain insight into the timing and sequence of changes that occur in the vaginal and vulvar microbiota during puberty. The study enrolled 31 healthy, premenarcheal girls between the ages of 10 and 12 years and collected vaginal and vulvar swabs quarterly for up to 3 years. Bacterial composition was characterized by Roche 454 pyrosequencing and classification of regions V1 to V3 of 16S rRNA genes. Contrary to expectations, lactic acid bacteria, primarily Lactobacillus spp., were dominant in the microbiota of most girls well before the onset of menarche in the early to middle stages of puberty. Gardnerella vaginalis was detected at appreciable levels in approximately one-third of subjects, a notable finding considering that this organism is commonly associated with bacterial vaginosis in adults. Vulvar microbiota closely resembled vaginal microbiota but often exhibited additional taxa typically associated with skin microbiota. Our findings suggest that the vaginal microbiota of girls begin to resemble those of adults well before the onset of menarche. IMPORTANCE This study addresses longitudinal changes in vaginal and vulvar microbial communities prior to and immediately following menarche. The research is significant because microbial ecology of the vagina is an integral aspect of health, including resistance to infections. The physiologic changes of puberty and initiation of cyclic menstruation are likely to have profound effects on vaginal microbiota, but almost nothing is known about changes that normally occur during this time. Our understanding has been especially hampered by the lack of thorough characterization of microbial communities using techniques that do not rely on the cultivation of fastidious bacteria, as well as a dearth of studies on girls in the early to middle stages of puberty. This study improves our understanding of the normal development of vaginal microbiota during puberty and onset of menarche and may better inform clinical approaches to vulvovaginal care of adolescent girls.
format	article
author	Roxana J. Hickey Xia Zhou Matthew L. Settles Julie Erb Kristin Malone Melanie A. Hansmann Marcia L. Shew Barbara Van Der Pol J. Dennis Fortenberry Larry J. Forney
author_facet	Roxana J. Hickey Xia Zhou Matthew L. Settles Julie Erb Kristin Malone Melanie A. Hansmann Marcia L. Shew Barbara Van Der Pol J. Dennis Fortenberry Larry J. Forney
author_sort	Roxana J. Hickey
title	Vaginal Microbiota of Adolescent Girls Prior to the Onset of Menarche Resemble Those of Reproductive-Age Women
title_short	Vaginal Microbiota of Adolescent Girls Prior to the Onset of Menarche Resemble Those of Reproductive-Age Women
title_full	Vaginal Microbiota of Adolescent Girls Prior to the Onset of Menarche Resemble Those of Reproductive-Age Women
title_fullStr	Vaginal Microbiota of Adolescent Girls Prior to the Onset of Menarche Resemble Those of Reproductive-Age Women
title_full_unstemmed	Vaginal Microbiota of Adolescent Girls Prior to the Onset of Menarche Resemble Those of Reproductive-Age Women
title_sort	vaginal microbiota of adolescent girls prior to the onset of menarche resemble those of reproductive-age women
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2015
url	https://doaj.org/article/9863a80eee53440d8fdba4b1f4a25372
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Vaginal Microbiota of Adolescent Girls Prior to the Onset of Menarche Resemble Those of Reproductive-Age Women

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