Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39163861›Full record

ArticleCell2024

Vaginal Lactobacillus fatty acid response mechanisms reveal a metabolite-targeted strategy for bacterial vaginosis treatment.

Meilin Zhu, Matthew W Frank, Christopher D Radka, Sarah Jeanfavre, Jiawu Xu, Megan W Tse, Julian Avila Pacheco, Jae Sun Kim, Kerry Pierce, Amy Deik and 14 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Cell, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
48citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

48 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Vaginal formulations selectively target Lactobacillus iners and Candida spp. while preserving Lactobacillus crispatus.International microbiology : the official journal of the Spanish Society for Microbiology · 2026
    Article
  4. Review
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  8. Article
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  10. Regulatory Effects ofMicroorganisms · 2026
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
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  14. Review
  15. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

24 authors.

Meilin ZhuDepartment of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Matthew W FrankDepartment of Host-Microbe Interactions, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
Christopher D RadkaDepartment of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.
Sarah JeanfavreBroad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Jiawu XuRagon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Megan W TseDepartment of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Julian Avila PachecoBroad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Jae Sun KimRagon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Kerry PierceBroad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Amy DeikBroad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Fatima Aysha HussainRagon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Joseph ElsherbiniRagon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Salina HussainRagon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Nondumiso XuluHIV Pathogenesis Programme, The Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Nasreen KhanHIV Pathogenesis Programme, The Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Vanessa PillayHealth Systems Trust, Durban, South Africa.
Caroline M MitchellRagon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Krista L DongRagon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Health Systems Trust, Durban, South Africa; Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Thumbi Ndung'uRagon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; HIV Pathogenesis Programme, The Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa; Africa Health Research Institute, Durban, South Africa; Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, Germany; Division of Infection and Immunity, University College London, London, UK.
Clary B ClishBroad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Charles O RockDepartment of Host-Microbe Interactions, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
Paul C BlaineyDepartment of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. Electronic address: pblainey@broadinstitute.org.
Seth M BloomRagon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: smbloom@mgh.harvard.edu.
Douglas S KwonRagon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: dkwon@mgh.harvard.edu.

Funding

ROLE OF DIETARY CONSTITUENTS ON GENE EXPRESSION IN INTESTINAL EPITHELIUMP30DK040561 · NIDDK · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI MARTIN TORRIANI · 1994 to 2026
$31.6M
REGULATION OF LIPID METABOLISM IN E COLIR01GM034496 · NIGMS · ST. JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL · PI ROCK, CHARLES O · 1985 to 2022
$9.2M
Bacterial anti-inflammatory lipid mediatorsR00AI166116 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY · PI RADKA, CHRISTOPHER DAVID · 2023 to 2025
$733k
Mechanistic characterization of vaginal microbiome-metabolome associations and metabolite-mediated host inflammationK08AI171166 · NIAID · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI SETH MICHAEL BLOOM · 2023 to 2026
$729k
NIAID NIH HHS K08 AI171166NIAID NIH HHS R00 AI166116NIDDK NIH HHS P30 DK040561NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM034496
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Bacterial vaginosis (BV), a common syndrome characterized by Lactobacillus-deficient vaginal microbiota, is associated with adverse health outcomes. BV often recurs after standard antibiotic therapy in part because antibiotics promote microbiota dominance by Lactobacillus iners instead of Lactobacillus crispatus, which has more beneficial health associations. Strategies to promote L. crispatus and inhibit L. iners are thus needed. We show that oleic acid (OA) and similar long-chain fatty acids simultaneously inhibit L. iners and enhance L. crispatus growth. These phenotypes require OA-inducible genes conserved in L. crispatus and related lactobacilli, including an oleate hydratase (ohyA) and putative fatty acid efflux pump (farE). FarE mediates OA resistance, while OhyA is robustly active in the vaginal microbiota and enhances bacterial fitness by biochemically sequestering OA in a derivative form only ohyA-harboring organisms can exploit. OA promotes L. crispatus dominance more effectively than antibiotics in an in vitro BV model, suggesting a metabolite-based treatment approach.

Indexed as

Fatty AcidsLactobacillusVaginaVaginosis, BacterialAnti-Bacterial AgentsBacterial ProteinsFemaleHumansLactobacillus crispatusMicrobiotaOleic AcidAnti-Bacterial AgentsBacterial ProteinsFatty AcidsOleic Acidbacterial vaginosisfemale genital tractLactobacillusmetabolismvaginal microbiomewomen’s health

Identifiers

PMID39163861
PMCPMC11429459

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.