Associations Between Dysmenorrhea Symptom-Based Phenotypes and Vaginal Microbiome: A Pilot Study

The objective of this study was to examine associations between dysmenorrhea symptom-based phenotypes and vaginal microbiome compositions on- and off-menses. Methods We conducted a prospective, longitudinal, pilot study of 20 women (aged 15–24 years) grouped into three dysmenorrhea symptom-based phenotypes: “mild localized pain,” “severe localized pain,” and “severe multiple pain and gastrointestinal symptoms.” Over one menstrual cycle, participants provided vaginal swabs when they were on- and off-menses. We assayed the vaginal microbiome using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance tests were used to compare microbiome compositions across phenotypes, with heat maps generated to visualize the relative abundance of bacterial taxa. Results The vaginal microbiome compositions (n = 40) were different across the three phenotypes. After separating the on-menses (n = 20) and off-menses (n = 20) specimens, the statistically significant difference was seen on-menses, but not off-menses. Compared to the “mild localized pain” phenotype, participants in the “multiple severe symptoms” phenotype had a lower lactobacilli level and a higher abundance of Prevotella, Atopobium, and Gardnerella when on-menses. We also observed trends of differences across phenotypes in vaginal microbiome change from off- to on-menses. Discussion The study provides proof-of-concept data to support larger studies on associations betwee...
Source: Nursing Research - Category: Nursing Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLES Source Type: research