Vaginal microbiota of pregnant women with and infections.

Background: The association between preterm birth and species such as and has been extensively investigated. In a clinical setting, conventional diagnostic methods for them involve culture methods for spp. and spp., along with PCR tests. However, the clinical utility of these tests remains controversial, highlighting the necessity for more robust and reliable methods for identifying and understanding infections.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the distribution of microbiota in pregnant women with and infection by the comparison of conventional diagnostic methods with vaginal microbial community analysis.

Study Design: This prospective case-control study involved 228 Korean pregnant women and utilized vaginal microbial community analysis, / culture, and 12-multiplex PCR for sexually transmitted diseases. Cross-correlation analysis in SPSS 27 compared the results of two conventional methods with vaginal microbial community analysis. R software generated box plots depicting the relative abundance of microorganisms. Network analysis was conducted using Cytoscape.

Results: Positive culture findings were observed in 60.2% of patients, with 76.4% positive for PCR and 13.2% positive for PCR. culture was positive only in two patients, while PCR was positive in eight women. Vaginal microbial community analysis identified significant differences in relative abundances of type I and between the PCR positive and negative groups. PCR positive patients exhibited significant differences in 11 bacterial species, including I and .

Conclusion: This study suggests that STD-PCR may be more accurate than / culture for the diagnosis of and infection. Also, the presence of I and implies their potential influences on and infections based on results of vaginal microbial community analysis. Therefore, vaginal microbial community analysis may give the more information of their pathophysiology.