ArticleNursing research
Associations Between Dysmenorrhea Symptom-Based Phenotypes and Vaginal Microbiome: A Pilot Study.
Article in Nursing research. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Study of Microbiome of the Female Genital Area in Relation to Pelvic Floor Dysfunction: A Systematic Review.International urogynecology journal · 2024Pooled it
- Bacterial microbiome analysis of vaginal, cervical, and endometrial samples in patients with adenomyosis during the window of implantation.Microbiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Awareness of the Vaginal Microbiome and Willingness to Undergo Vaginal Microbiota Transplant.Journal of obstetric, gynecologic, and neonatal nursing : JOGNN · 2026Article
- The Vaginal Microbiome and Reproductive Health in Adolescents and Adults.Journal of pediatric and adolescent gynecology · 2025Review
- Natural History of Menstrual Pain and Associated Risk Factors in Early Adolescence.Journal of pediatric and adolescent gynecology · 2025Article
- Comparative analysis of vaginal microbiota sampling using menstrual cups and high vaginal swabs in pregnant women living with HIV-1 infection.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Article
- Menstrual Cycle Variation in MRI-Based Quantification of Intraluminal Gas in Women With and Without Dysmenorrhea.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Engaging Adolescent and Young Adults in Microbiome Sample Self-Collection: Strategies for Success.Biological research for nursing · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDysmenorrhea is highly prevalent; it places women at risk for other chronic pain conditions. There is a high degree of individual variability in menstrual pain severity, the number of painful sites, and co-occurring gastrointestinal symptoms. Distinct dysmenorrhea symptom-based phenotypes were previously identified, but the biological underpinnings of these phenotypes are less known. One underexplored contributor is the vaginal microbiome. The vaginal microbiota differs significantly among reproductive-age women and may modulate as well as amplify reproductive tract inflammation, which may contribute to dysmenorrhea symptoms.
objectivesThe objective of this study was to examine associations between dysmenorrhea symptom-based phenotypes and vaginal microbiome compositions on- and off-menses.
methodsWe conducted a prospective, longitudinal, pilot study of 20 women (aged 15-24 years) grouped into three dysmenorrhea symptom-based phenotypes: "mild localized pain," "severe localized pain," and "severe multiple pain and gastrointestinal symptoms." Over one menstrual cycle, participants provided vaginal swabs when they were on- and off-menses. We assayed the vaginal microbiome using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance tests were used to compare microbiome compositions across phenotypes, with heat maps generated to visualize the relative abundance of bacterial taxa.
resultsThe vaginal microbiome compositions (n = 40) were different across the three phenotypes. After separating the on-menses (n = 20) and off-menses (n = 20) specimens, the statistically significant difference was seen on-menses, but not off-menses. Compared to the "mild localized pain" phenotype, participants in the "multiple severe symptoms" phenotype had a lower lactobacilli level and a higher abundance of Prevotella, Atopobium, and Gardnerella when on-menses. We also observed trends of differences across phenotypes in vaginal microbiome change from off- to on-menses. DISCUSSION: The study provides proof-of-concept data to support larger studies on associations between dysmenorrhea symptom-based phenotypes and vaginal microbiome that might lead to new intervention targets and/or biomarkers for dysmenorrhea. This line of research has the potential to inform precision dysmenorrhea treatment that can improve women's quality of life.
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