Characterization of vaginal flora in pregnant women during the second trimester using 16S rRNA full-length gene sequencing
10.3760/cma.j.cn112309-20241220-00436
- VernacularTitle:基于16S rRNA全长基因探究孕中期孕妇阴道菌群特征及其影响因素
- Author:
Yanmin CAO
1
;
Haiyan LIU
;
Yao DONG
;
Zongguang LI
;
Baixue HAN
;
Mengting CAO
;
Longnan PAN
;
Hui KAN
;
Yaxin LI
;
Qing LI
;
Anqun HU
;
Yingjie ZHENG
Author Information
1. 国家卫生健康委员会卫生技术评估重点实验室/复旦大学公共卫生学院流行病学教研室/公共卫生安全教育部重点实验室，上海 200032
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Pregnant metaphase;
Vaginal flora;
16S rRNA full-length gene
- From:
Chinese Journal of Microbiology and Immunology
2025;45(10):869-880
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To characterize the vaginal flora of pregnant women during the second trimester using full-length 16S rRNA sequencing.Methods:A total of 142 pregnant women were systematically sampled from a pregnancy cohort. Vaginal swabs were collected for full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing，and bioinformatics analysis was performed to characterize the vaginal microbiota and identify associated influencing factors.Results:Among the 142 pregnant women，the most frequently detected species were Lactobacillus iners（83.10%，118/142）and Lactobacillus crispatus（49.30%，70/142）. The majority of samples（90.85%，129/142）were classified as Lactobacillus-dominant vagitypes，with the Lactobacillus iners vagitype accounting for 48.59%（69/142）and the Lactobacillus crispatus vagitype accounting for 38.73%（55/142）. The vaginal microbiota was clustered into five community state types（CSTs）：Ⅰa，Ⅰb，Ⅲa，Ⅲb，and Ⅳ. The most prevalent CSTs were Lactobacillus iners-dominated CST-Ⅲ（51.41%，73/142）and Lactobacillus crispatus-dominated CST-Ⅰ（24.65%，35/142）. No samples were classified as CST-Ⅱ or CST-Ⅴ. A significant negative correlation was observed between Lactobacill and vaginosis-associated bacteria. Age，alcohol consumption，smoking，and vaginal treatments showed significant associations or trends toward significance with various Alpha diversity indices. Vaginal douching was associated with CST clustering，while obstetric history（primiparity，previous miscarriage history）was associated with vagitype classification. However，no significant associations were identified between maternal baseline characteristics and Beta diversity indices. Conclusions:Full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing reveals that the vaginal microbiota of pregnant women is dominated by Lactobacillus iners and Lactobacillus crispatus. Maternal age，lifestyle factors such as smoking and alcohol consumption，and obstetric history are significantly associated with variations in vaginal microbiota composition.
