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Cited by 134Reproductive tract infections researchProbiotics and Fermented FoodsGut microbiota and health

Changes in vaginal microbiota following antimicrobial and probiotic therapy

Open access
Macklaim, Jean M., Clemente, Jose C., Knight, Rob, Gloor, Gregory B., Reid, Gregor·2015·Microbial Ecology in Health & Disease
DOI 10.3402/mehd.v26.27799PMC PMC4539393
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: The composition of the vaginal microbiota is known to be important for health. When infections occur, antimicrobial therapy is often poorly efficacious. OBJECTIVE AND DESIGN: We used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to characterize changes in the bacterial microbiota following oral antimicrobial and probiotic interventions. RESULTS: While the bacterial vaginal profiles of women with vulvovaginal candidiasis were dominated by lactobacilli as in healthy women, and unchanged by therapy, Gardnerella vaginalis, Prevotella, Atopobium, Sneathia, and Megasphaera dominated the vagina of women with bacterial vaginosis (BV), and treatment with tinidazole plus Lactobacillus reuteri RC-14+L. rhamnosus GR-1 resulted in an increased relative abundance of indigenous L. iners or L. crispatus. CONCLUSIONS: The ability to restore homeostasis provides a rationale for conjoint use of probiotics with antibiotic treatment of BV.

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  • Oral probiotics combined with antibiotics facilitate displacement of BV-related anaerobes, improve cure rates, and relieve symptoms of bacterial vaginosis.

    “In particular, oral probiotics when combined with antibiotics have been shown to facilitate the displacement of BV-related anaerobes, improve cure rates and relieve the symptoms of BV [24, 27, 28].”

    From Feasibility, safety and tolerability of estrogen and/or probiotics for improving vaginal health in Canadian African, Caribbean, and Black women: A pilot phase 1 clinical trial (2025) · cites this paper as [24]

    The Results report that tinidazole plus oral probiotics reduced the relative abundance of several BV-associated bacteria compared with antibiotic plus placebo. The paper does not report an improved BV cure rate or relief of BV symptoms; the cure-rate improvement it mentions concerns vulvovaginal candidiasis, not BV. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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References 42 · Cited by 134

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Authors
Macklaim, J. M., Clemente, J. C., Knight, R., Gloor, G. B., & Reid, G.
Affiliations
  • Western University (CA)
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
Corresponding author
Reid, Gregor
ORCID
Venue
Microbial Ecology in Health & Disease
Publisher
Co-Action Publishing
Published
2015-08-14
Volume
26
Issue
0
Pages
27799-27799
ISSN
  • 0891-060X (ISSN-L)
  • 1651-2235
DOI
10.3402/mehd.v26.27799
PMC
PMC4539393
OpenAlex
W1593357338
Cited by
134
References
42
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 1
FWCI
11.52
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc
Locations
  • Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
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
vaginal microbiota, bacterial vaginosis, vaginal candidiasis, probiotics, antimicrobial therapy, tinidazole, Lactobacillus reuteri RC-14, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1, Gardnerella vaginalis, Lactobacillus iners, Lactobacillus crispatus, 16S rRNA gene sequencing

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