Life Sciences Commons^™

Association Of Chlamydia Trachomatis Burden With The Vaginal Microbiota, Bacterial Vaginosis, And Metronidazole Treatment, Caleb M. Ardizzone, Christopher M. Taylor, Evelyn Toh, Rebecca A. Lillis, Jacob H. Elnaggar, John W. Lammons, Patricia Dehon Mott, Emily L. Duffy, Li Shen, Alison J. Quayle

School of Graduate Studies Faculty Publications

Bacterial vaginosis (BV), a dysbiosis of the vaginal microbiota, is a common coinfection with Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct), and BV-associated bacteria (BVAB) and their products have been implicated in aiding Ct evade natural immunity. Here, we determined if a non-optimal vaginal microbiota was associated with a higher genital Ct burden and if metronidazole, a standard treatment for BV, would reduce Ct burden or aid in natural clearance of Ct infection. Cervicovaginal samples were collected from women at enrollment and, if testing positive for Ct infection, at a follow-up visit approximately one week later. Cervical Ct burden was assessed by inclusion forming …

Differences In The Genital Microbiota In Women Who Naturally Clear Chlamydia Trachomatis Infection Compared To Women Who Do Not Clear; A Pilot Study, Patricia Dehon Mott, Christopher M. Taylor, Rebecca A. Lillis, Caleb M. Ardizzone, Hannah L. Albritton, Meng Luo, Kaitlyn G. Calabresi, David H. Martin, Leann Myers, Alison J. Quayle

School of Graduate Studies Faculty Publications

In vitro studies indicate IFNγ is central to Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) eradication, but its function may be compromised by anaerobes typically associated with bacterial vaginosis (BV), a frequent co-morbidity in women with Ct. Here we investigated the associations between natural clearance of cervical Ct infection, the vaginal microbiome, and the requirements for IFNγ by evaluating the vaginal microbial and cytokine composition of Ct treatment visit samples from women who cleared Ct infection in the interim between their Ct screening and Ct treatment visit. The pilot cohort was young, predominantly African American, and characterized by a high rate of BV that …

Molecular Assessment Of Bacterial Vaginosis By Lactobacillus Abundance And Species Diversity, Joke A. M. Dols, Douwe Molenaar, Jannie J. Van Der Helm, Martien P. M. Caspers, Alie De Kat Angelino-Bart, Frank H. J. Schuren, Adrianus G. C. L. Speksnijder, Hans V. Westerhoff, Jan Hendrik Richardus, Mathilde E. Boon, Gregor Reid, Henry J. C. De Vries, Remco Kort

Microbiology & Immunology Publications

Background

To date, women are most often diagnosed with bacterial vaginosis (BV) using microscopy based Nugent scoring or Amsel criteria. However, the accuracy is less than optimal. The aim of the present study was to confirm the identity of known BV-associated composition profiles and evaluate indicators for BV using three molecular methods.

Methods

Evaluation of indicators for BV was carried out by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of the V5-V7 region, a tailor-made 16S rRNA oligonucleotide-based microarray, and a PCR-based profiling technique termed IS-profiling, which is based on fragment variability of the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer region. An inventory of vaginal …

Gram Stains: A Resource For Retrospective Analysis Of Bacterial Pathogens In Clinical Studies, Usha Srinivasan, Sreelatha Ponnalurl, Lisa Villareal, Brenda Gillespie, Ai Wen, Arianna Miles, Brigette Bucholz, Carl F. Marrs, Ram K. Iyer, Dawn Misra, Betsy Foxman

Faculty Publications

We demonstrate the feasibility of using qPCR on DNA extracted from vaginal Gram stain slides to estimate the presence and relative abundance of specific bacterial pathogens. We first tested Gram stained slides spiked with a mix of 108 cfu/ml of Escherichia coli and 105cfu/ml of Lactobacillus acidophilus. Primers were designed for amplification of total and species-specific bacterial DNA based on 16S ribosomal gene regions. Sample DNA was pre-amplified with nearly full length 16S rDNA ribosomal gene fragment, followed by quantitative PCR with genera and species-specific 16S rDNA primers. Pre-amplification PCR increased the bacterial amounts; relative proportions of Escherichia coli …