Common cervicovaginal sequencing methods result in discordant molecular diagnoses of bacterial vaginosis and reveal strain level effects of <i>Gardnerella vaginalis</i>.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is associated with HIV transmission and pre-term birth, yet the etiology of BV remains unknown. Our analysis addressed that knowledge gap by comparing diagnostic techniques and using Bayesian inference to find species-specific associations with clinical indicators. We also assessed the effect of sequencing methodology on the results of molecular BV profiling. We observed significant differences in microbial diversity within BV-associated CSTs based on clinical diagnosis. CST assignments were substantially influenced by sequencing methodology, with concordance between methods as low as 59% for metatranscriptomic and metataxonomic-based CST assignment. We also found that Gardnerella has a strain-dependent association with individual Amsel's criteria, and that

SUBMITTER: Broedlow CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12803708 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature