Reproductive Immunology: Open Access

Reproductive Microbiomes: Using the Microbiome as a Novel Diagnostic Tool for Endometriosis

Background: Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disease which results in significant pain and long term reproductive consequences for up to 50% of infertile women. This study was focused to understand how endometriosis altered the uterine and cervical bacterial community. Methods and findings: Urogenital swabs and uterine washes were collected from 19 pre-menopausal women undergoing laparoscopic surgery for pelvic pain, suspected endometriosis (experimental n=10), and women undergoing laparoscopic surgery for benign ovarian/uterine conditions (control n=9). Patients were followed for the next year and repeat cervical swabs were obtained. Bacterial community composition was assessed from these samples using Illumina next generation 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Bacterial communities were significantly different between sample sites, the uterus and cervix, and stage III endometriosis resulted in significant alterations in the cervical bacterial community. Both bacterial richness and phylogenetic diversity increased in association with stage III endometriosis. Surgical intervention resulted in a stabilized cervical bacterial community for a short period of time. Conclusion: Bacterial community profiling may provide a useful diagnostic tool for identifying endometriosis in asymptomatic, infertile women in a clinical setting.

 

Author(s):

Melissa A. Cregger, Katherine Lenz, Elizabeth Leary, Richard Leach, Asgerally Fazleabas, Bryan White, Andrea Braundmeier

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