SynthesisArchives of gynecology and obstetrics2020
The association between vaginal microbiota and female infertility: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Archives of gynecology and obstetrics, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of hormonal treatments for endometriosis on the reproductive microbiome: a systematic review.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Pooled it
- Correlation between dysbiosis of vaginal microecology and endometriosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Clinical and vaginal microbiota effects of oral Lactobacillus crispatus M247 combined with vaginal laser therapy in menopausal women with atrophic vulvovaginitis: a prospective, randomized and controlled study.Lasers in medical science · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Association Between Vaginal Microbiota and Female Infertility: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Microorganisms · 2026Review
- Gut Dysbiosis in Selected Gynecological Diseases Associated with Female Infertility: A Scoping Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Cost-effectiveness analysis of bacterial vaginosis screening strategies in women attempting for natural conception.Cost effectiveness and resource allocation : C/E · 2026Article
- Microbiome in women with endometriosis and theMicrobiology spectrum · 2026Article
- The Role of the Vaginal Microbiome in Gynecological Diseases: Mechanistic Insights and Emerging Interventions.Biology · 2026Review
- Shifts in the vaginal microbiota of nulliparous ewe lambs following initial reproductive handling and estrus synchronization.Journal of animal science · 2026Article
- Differences in Vaginal Microbiota Composition Between Infertile and Fertile Patients: A Prospective Study.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Bacterial vaginosis toxins impair sperm capacitation and fertilization.Human reproduction (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- The influence of vaginal microbiota on ewe fertility: a metagenomic and functional genomic approach.Microbiome · 2025Article
- Article
- Human Cervix Chip: A Preclinical Model for Studying the Role of the Cervical Mucosa and Microbiome in Female Reproductive Health.BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2025Review
- Characterization of bacterial communities of ewe's vaginal tract and its potential impact on reproductive efficiency.Animal microbiome · 2025Article
- Vaginal Dysbiosis in Infertility: A Comparative Analysis Between Women with Primary and Secondary Infertility.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- Effect of stress urinary incontinence on vaginal microbial communities.BMC microbiology · 2024Article
- Effect ofMicroorganisms · 2023Article
- Vaginal microbioma and the presence of Lactobacillus spp. as interferences in female fertility: A review system.JBRA assisted reproduction · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThis study aimed to explore the association between vaginal microbiota and infertility.
methodsWe searched a range of electronic databases for appropriate articles, including PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wanfang, from inception to 8th September 2019. Identified articles were then screened using strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. By referring to Tamarelle's method, we divided vaginal microbiota into two categories: low-Lactobacillus vaginal microbiota (LL-VMB) and high-Lactobacillus vaginal microbiota (HL-VMB). Patients were defined as HL-VMB if they had a Nugent score of 0-3, a negative Amesel/Spiegel's test, or if the vaginal community status was dominated by either L. crispatus, L. iners, L. gasseri and L. jensenii via 16S rRNA sequencing. Otherwise, cases were regarded as LL-VMB. Statistical analyses were performed with STATA 13.0 statistical software. Effect estimates are presented as odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
resultsFifteen articles were included in our final analysis. The HL-VMB was negatively related to infertility; a fixed model showed that the pooled OR was 0.83 (95% CI 0.77-0.90). There was no significant publication bias, as determined by Begg's test (P = 0.488) and Egger's test (P = 0.652). Using a random effect model, the pooled OR for intermediate bacterial vaginitis (BV) and infertility was 1.39 (95% CI 1.10-1.76) and the pooled OR for positive BV was 1.72 (95% CI 1.10-2.69). Subgroup and sensitivity analyses further demonstrated that the associations identified were stable. However, the acquired evidence was not sufficient to make inferences with regards to the mechanisms underlying these relationships.
conclusionThis systematic review and meta-analysis identified a negative correlation between HL-VMB and female infertility. However, due to a variety of limitations, the evidence acquired does not allow us to identify the specific mechanisms underlying this association. Further high-quality studies are needed to verify the causal relationship and explore the molecular mechanisms involved.
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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.