Effects of tampons and menses on the composition and diversity of vaginal microbial communities over time. Issue 6 (11th February 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hickey, RJ; Abdo, Z; Zhou, X; Nemeth, K; Hansmann, M; Osborn, TW; Wang, F; Forney, LJ
• Is Part Of: BJOG. Volume 120:Issue 6(2013:Jun.)
• Page Start: 695
• Page End: 706
• Publication Date: 2013-02-11
• Subjects: Obstetrics -- Periodicals; Gynecology -- Periodicals; 618
• DOI: 10.1111/1471-0528.12151
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1470-0328

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="bjo12151-abs-0001"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="bjo12151-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Objective</title> <p>To investigate the influence of menses on the vaginal microbiota and determine whether tampons that differ in material composition influence these bacterial communities in different ways.</p> </sec> <sec id="bjo12151-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Design</title> <p>A single‐centre trial with randomised, complete block design.</p> </sec> <sec id="bjo12151-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Setting</title> <p>Procter & Gamble facility.</p> </sec> <sec id="bjo12151-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Sample</title> <p>Seven self‐declared healthy, female volunteers of reproductive age.</p> </sec> <sec id="bjo12151-sec-0005" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods</title> <p>Volunteers used a pad and two types of tampons during the study, one product exclusively each month for three sequential menstrual cycles. During menses and once each mid‐cycle, vaginal bacterial community composition was characterised by cultivation‐independent methods based on pyrosequencing of V1–V2 variable regions of 16S ribosomal RNA genes.</p> </sec> <sec id="bjo12151-sec-0006" sec-type="section"> <title>Main outcome measures</title> <p>Changes in the species composition, abundance and diversity in vaginal bacterial communities over time and between treatments.</p> </sec> <sec id="bjo12151-sec-0007" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>The vaginal microbiotas of all seven women were dominated by <italic>Lactobacillus</italic> spp. at mid‐cycle, and the compositions of those communities were largely consistent between cycles. Community dynamic patterns during menses varied considerably and were more or less individualised. In three of the seven women the community diversity during pad use was significantly different from at least one tampon cycle.</p> </sec> <sec id="bjo12151-sec-0008" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusions</title> <p>Changes in the composition of the vaginal microbiota during menses were common, but the magnitude of change varied between women. Despite these changes, most communities were capable of resuming a composition similar to previous mid‐cycle sampling times following menstruation. Overall we conclude that the two tampons tested do not significantly impact the vaginal microbiota in different ways; however, larger studies should be performed to confirm these findings.</p> </sec> </abstract>