Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39987010›Full record

Observational studyBMJ open2025

Vaginal Microbiome Research Consortium for Africa: study protocol of a multicentre prospective clinical study to evaluate temporal vaginal microbial composition associated with maintenance of reproductive health in women in South Africa and Kenya.

Brian Ronald Kullin, Serah Gitome, Anna-Ursula Happel, Tanya Pidwell, Mellissa Lefevre, Anda Madikida, Pauline Wekesa, Karabo Mahlangu, James Ochieng, Lydia Awili and 20 more

Abstract readMulticenter StudyObservational Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Observational study in BMJ open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

30 authors.

Brian Ronald Kullin *Department of Pathology, UCT Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa brian.kullin@uct.ac.za.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5460-1977
Serah Gitome *Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya.
Anna-Ursula Happel *Department of Pathology, UCT Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
Tanya Pidwell *Department of Pathology, UCT Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
Mellissa LefevreUniversity of Cape Town Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
Anda MadikidaUniversity of Cape Town Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
Pauline WekesaKenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya.
Karabo MahlanguUniversity of Cape Town Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
James OchiengKenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya.
Lydia AwiliKenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya.
Winnie AgollaKenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya.
Rhoda OtienoKenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya.
Amos MutharimiKenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya.
Yacoeb GaniefDepartment of Pathology, UCT Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
Rezeen DanielsUniversity of Cape Town Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
Anika ChickenDepartment of Pathology, UCT Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
Kirsten WelpDepartment of Pathology, UCT Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
Hannah LivingstoneDepartment of Pathology, UCT Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
Caleb SwanepoelDepartment of Pathology, UCT Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
Shantelle Claassen-WeitzDepartment of Pathology, UCT Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
Pride KanyokaDepartment of Pathology, UCT Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
Jacques RavelDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland Institute for Genome Sciences, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Michael HumphrysDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland Institute for Genome Sciences, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Lisa BilskiDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland Institute for Genome Sciences, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Nicola MulderDepartment of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, UCT Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
Linda-Gail BekkerUniversity of Cape Town Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
Katherine GillUniversity of Cape Town Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3372-9506
Heather JaspanDepartment of Pathology, UCT Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
Elizabeth Anne BukusiKenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya.
Jo-Ann Shelley PassmoreDepartment of Pathology, UCT Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.

Funding

Gates Foundation INV-037612
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThe Vaginal Microbiome Research Consortium for Africa (VMRC4Africa) study is a multicentre observational cohort study. We aim to enrol parallel cohorts of 100 women from two sites in two African countries (N=200) (Desmond Tutu HIV Centre [DTHC], South Africa; Kenya Medical Research Institute [KEMRI], Kenya) to evaluate detailed temporal fluctuations in vaginal microbiota in young, generally healthy women from Southern and Eastern Africa. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Cohorts in Kenya and South Africa will be followed up twice a week for 10 weeks to create detailed profiles of vaginal microbial community state types (CSTs; by 16S rRNA gene sequencing) and fungal communities (by internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequencing) and to identify women with stable DISCUSSION: Through the establishment of this African vaginal sample biorepository, the intention will be to cultivate ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The VMRC4Africa study has been granted ethical approval by the Human Research Ethics Committees in South Africa (UCT HREC: 611/2022) and Kenya (KEMRI Scientific and Ethics Review Unit: SERU No. 4569). Deidentified microbial community compositional data will be made available on public databases. Results of the study will be published in peer-reviewed journals.

Indexed as

MicrobiotaReproductive HealthVaginaAdultFemaleHumansKenyaLactobacillus crispatusMulticenter Studies as TopicProspective StudiesRNA, Ribosomal, 16SSouth AfricaYoung AdultRNA, Ribosomal, 16SHIV & AIDSHuman Papillomavirus VirusesIMMUNOLOGYMICROBIOLOGYObservational Study

Identifiers

PMID39987010
PMCPMC11848679

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.