ArticleScientific reports2015
A multi-platform metabolomics approach identifies highly specific biomarkers of bacterial diversity in the vagina of pregnant and non-pregnant women.
Article in Scientific reports, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 73 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
73 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 127 citations in OpenAlex.
- Human microbiota research in Africa: a systematic review reveals gaps and priorities for future research.Microbiome · 2021Pooled it
- Effect of Oral ProbioticNutrients · 2020Trial
- Pilot assessment of probiotics for pregnant women in Rwanda.PloS one · 2018Trial
- The cervicovaginal gut microbiota axis as a key determinant of systemic physiology.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Increased Endometrial CD38 and CD138 Positivity in Women with Ectopic Pregnancy History: A Retrospective Study.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2026Article
- Metabolic cooperation supports mutual growth between the protozoan parasite Trichomonas vaginalis and dysbiotic vaginal bacteria.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Multiomic analysis reveals that polyamines alter G. vaginalis-induced cervicovaginal epithelial cell dysfunction.Research square · 2026Article
- Characterization of the vaginal microbiome and its metabolic potential in Colombian patients with recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis.Medical mycology · 2026Article
- Article
- Vaginal microbiota and urinary tract infections in women: the protective role of vaginal lactobacilli in counteracting urinary tract infections occurrence and recurrence.Le infezioni in medicina · 2026Review
- Metabolism-Driven Modulation by the Human Microbiota: Implications for Cancer Therapy and Emerging Strategies.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- EngineeringBiodesign research · 2025Article
- Metabolic comparison of minimally to noninvasive urogenital sample types for studying gynecologic health: A pilot study.iScience · 2025Article
- Exploring the female genital tract mycobiome in young South African women using metaproteomics.Microbiome · 2025Article
- Microbial influences on HPV infection and cervical carcinogenesis: emerging evidence from the vaginal microbiome.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Review
- Article
- The Endometrial Microbiota: Challenges and Prospects.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Review
- Crosstalk between the Resident Microbiota and the Immune Cells Regulates Female Genital Tract Health.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Metabolomics Reveals Strain-Specific Cyanopeptide Profiles and Their Production Dynamics inToxins · 2023Article
- Microbiota metabolites in the female reproductive system: Focused on the short-chain fatty acids.Heliyon · 2023Review
13 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) increases transmission of HIV, enhances the risk of preterm labour, and is associated with malodour. Clinical diagnosis often relies on microscopy, which may not reflect the microbiota composition accurately. We use an untargeted metabolomics approach, whereby we normalize the weight of samples prior to analysis, to obtained precise measurements of metabolites in vaginal fluid. We identify biomarkers for BV with high sensitivity and specificity (AUC = 0.99) in a cohort of 131 pregnant and non-pregnant Rwandan women, and demonstrate that the vaginal metabolome is strongly associated with bacterial diversity. Metabolites associated with high diversity and clinical BV include 2-hydroxyisovalerate and γ-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), but not succinate, which is produced by both Lactobacillus crispatus and BV-associated anaerobes in vitro. Biomarkers associated with high diversity and clinical BV are independent of pregnancy status, and were validated in a blinded replication cohort from Tanzania (n = 45), where we predicted clinical BV with 91% accuracy. Correlations between the metabolome and microbiota identified Gardnerella vaginalis as a putative producer of GHB, and we demonstrate production by this species in vitro. This work illustrates how changes in community structure alter the chemical composition of the vagina, and identifies highly specific biomarkers for a common condition.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.