| Title: |
Sexual practices have a significant impact on the vaginal microbiota of women who have sex with women |
| Authors: |
Plummer, EL; Vodstrcil, LA; Fairley, CK; Tabrizi, SN; Garland, SM; Law, MG; Hocking, JS; Fethers, KA; Bulach, DM; Murray, GL; Bradshaw, CS; Han, Anna |
| Source: |
urn:ISSN:2045-2322 ; Scientific Reports, 9, 1, 19749 |
| Publisher Information: |
Springer Nature |
| Publication Year: |
2019 |
| Collection: |
UNSW Sydney (The University of New South Wales): UNSWorks |
| Subject Terms: |
3107 Microbiology; 3215 Reproductive Medicine; 32 Biomedical and Clinical Sciences; 31 Biological Sciences; Infectious Diseases; Health Disparities; Topical Microbicides; Microbiome; Health Disparities and Racial or Ethnic Minority Health Research; Sexually Transmitted Infections; Women's Health; Contraception/Reproduction; 3 Good Health and Well Being; Adult; Female; Gardnerella vaginalis; Humans; Lactobacillus crispatus; Microbiota; Sexual Behavior; Sexual and Gender Minorities; Vagina; Vaginosis; Bacterial; anzsrc-for: 3107 Microbiology; anzsrc-for: 3215 Reproductive Medicine; anzsrc-for: 32 Biomedical and Clinical Sciences; anzsrc-for: 31 Biological Sciences |
| Description: |
Women-who-have-sex-with-women (WSW) are at increased risk of bacterial vaginosis (BV). We investigated the impact of practices and past BV on the vaginal microbiota within a two-year longitudinal cohort of Australian WSW. Self-collected vaginal swabs were used to characterise the vaginal microbiota using 16S-rRNA gene sequencing. Hierarchical clustering defined community state types (CSTs). Bacterial diversity was calculated using the Shannon diversity index and instability of the vaginal microbiota was assessed by change of CST and Bray-Curtis dissimilarity. Sex with a new partner increased the bacterial diversity (adjusted-coefficient = 0.41, 95%CI: 0.21,0.60, p < 0.001) and instability of the vaginal microbiota, in terms of both change of CST (adjusted-odds-ratio = 2.65, 95%CI: 1.34,5.22, p = 0.005) and increased Bray-Curtis dissimilarity (adjusted-coefficient = 0.21, 95%CI: 0.11,0.31, p < 0.001). Women reporting sex with a new partner were more likely than women reporting no new partner to have a vaginal microbiota characterised by Gardnerella vaginalis (adjusted-relative-risk-ratio[aRRR] = 3.45, 95%CI: 1.42,8.41, p = 0.006) or anaerobic BV-associated bacteria (aRRR = 3.62, 95%CI: 1.43,9.14, p = 0.007) relative to a Lactobacillus crispatus dominated microbiota. Sex with a new partner altered the vaginal microbiota of WSW by increasing the diversity and abundance of BV-associated bacteria. These findings highlight the influence of practices on the development of a non-optimal vaginal microbiota and provide microbiological support for the sexual exchange of bacteria between women. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| File Description: |
application/pdf |
| Language: |
unknown |
| Relation: |
https://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_63448 |
| DOI: |
10.1038/s41598-019-55929-7 |
| Availability: |
https://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_63448; https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/e539af63-8f46-4982-8a2f-502cf3481f7c/download; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-55929-7 |
| Rights: |
open access ; https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 ; CC BY ; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ; free_to_read |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.36C3D0B8 |
| Database: |
BASE |