Oral use of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and L. fermentum RC-14 significantly alters vaginal flora: randomized, placebo-controlled trial in 64 healthy women
Open accessAbstract
Urogenital infections afflict an estimated one billion people each year. The size of this problem and the increased prevalence of multi-drug resistant pathogens make it imperative that alternative remedies be found. A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 64 healthy women given daily oral capsules of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobacillus fermentum RC-14 for 60 days showed no adverse effects. Microscopy analysis showed restoration from asymptomatic bacterial vaginosis microflora to a normal lactobacilli colonized microflora in 37% women during lactobacilli treatment compared to 13% on placebo (P=0.02). Lactobacilli were detected in more women in the lactobacilli-treated group than in the placebo group at 28 day (P=0.08) and 60 day (P=0.05) test points. Culture findings confirmed a significant increase in vaginal lactobacilli at day 28 and 60, a significant depletion in yeast at day 28 and a significant reduction in coliforms at day 28, 60 and 90 for lactobacilli-treated subjects versus controls. The combination of probiotic L. rhamnosus GR-1 and L. fermentum RC-14 is not only safe for daily use in healthy women, but it can reduce colonization of the vagina by potential pathogenic bacteria and yeast.
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Lm. fermentum is not typically a dominant species in the gastrointestinal tract or vagina, but its established probiotic characteristics make it a promising candidate.
“WhileLm. fermentumis not typically a dominant species in the gastrointestinal tract or in the vagina, its established probiotic characteristics make it a promising candidate [48, 50–52].”
From Women's health is a team effort: probiogenomics supports the development of a multi-species vaginal probiotic (2026) · cites this paper as [50]
The Bacterial strains section (p. not provided) says L. fermentum RC-14 was selected for its ability to colonize the vagina and inhibit urogenital pathogens; the Discussion (p. not provided) describes beneficial effects of the oral probiotic combination. The paper does not establish that L. fermentum is typically non-dominant in either the gastrointestinal tract or the vagina, and its findings concern the RC-14 strain given with L. rhamnosus GR-1 rather than the species generally. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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“While Lm. fermentum is not typically a dominant species in the gastrointestinal tract or in the vagina, its established probiotic characteristics make it a promising candidate [48, 50–52 ].”
- Authors
- Reid, G., Charbonneau, D., Erb, J., Kochanowski, B., Beuerman, D., Poehner, R., & Bruce, A. W.
- Affiliations
- Lawson Health Research Institute (CA)
- Procter & Gamble (United States) (US)
- Corresponding author
- Reid, Gregor
- ORCID
- Reid, Gregor
- Venue
- FEMS Immunology & Medical Microbiology
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2003-03
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 131-134
- ISSN
- 0928-8244 (ISSN-L)
- 1574-695X
- OpenAlex
- W2149188810
- Cited by
- 514
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 19 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 26 · 2013: 25 · 2012: 32
- FWCI
- 18.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- FEMS Immunology & Medical Microbiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Procter and Gamble
- Kidney Foundation of Canada
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Microbiology › Reproductive tract infections research
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Keywords
- Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1, probiotics, vaginal microbiota, bacterial vaginosis, vaginal lactobacilli, coliform bacteria, yeast colonization, urogenital infections, oral probiotic supplementation, healthy women
- MeSH terms
- Administration, Oral, Adult, Enterobacteriaceae, Female, Fungi, Humans, Lactobacillus, Middle Aged, Vagina, Colony Count, Microbial, Probiotics
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