IAI Accepts, published online ahead of print on 15 June 2009

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Infect. Immun. doi:10.1128/IAI.00436-09
Copyright (c) 2009, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Vaginal microbiota of women with frequent vulvovaginal candidiasis

Xia Zhou, Rachel Westman, Roxana Hickey, Melanie A. Hansmann, Colleen Kennedy, Thomas W. Osborn, and Larry J. Forney^*

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844; FemCare Product Safety and Regulatory Affairs, Procter & Gamble Co., Cincinnati, OH 45224; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: lforney{at}uidaho.edu.

Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is an insidious infection that afflicts a large proportion of women of all ages, and 5-8% of affected women experience recurrent VVC (RVVC). The aim of this study was to explore the possible importance of vaginal bacterial communities in reducing the risk of RVVC. The species composition and diversity of microbial communities were evaluated in 42 women with and without frequent VVC based on profiles of terminal restriction fragment polymorphisms (T-RFLP) of 16S rRNA genes and phylogenetic analysis of cloned 16S rRNA gene sequences from the numerically dominant microbial populations. The data showed that there were no significant differences between the vaginal microbial communities of women in these two groups (likelihood score 5.948 and a bootstrap p-value of 0.26). Moreover, there were no novel bacteria found in the communities of women with frequent VVC. The vaginal communities of most women in both groups (38/42; 90%) were dominated by species of Lactobacillus. The results of this study failed to provide evidence for the existence of altered or unusual vaginal bacterial communities in women who have frequent VVC as compared to women who do not. The findings suggest that commensal vaginal bacterial species may not be able to prevent VVC.

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