A multi-platform metabolomics approach identifies highly specific biomarkers of bacterial diversity in the vagina of pregnant and non-pregnant women.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) increases transmission of HIV, enhances the risk of preterm labour, and is associated with malodour. Clinical diagnosis often relies on microscopy, which may not reflect the microbiota composition accurately. We use an untargeted metabolomics approach, whereby we normalize the weight of samples prior to analysis, to obtained precise measurements of metabolites in vaginal fluid. We identify biomarkers for BV with high sensitivity and specificity (AUC = 0.99) in a cohort of 131 pregnant and non-pregnant Rwandan women, and demonstrate that the vaginal metabolome is strongly associated with bacterial diversity. Metabolites associated with high diversity and clinical BV include 2-hydroxyisovalerate and γ-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), but not succinate, which is produced by bot

SUBMITTER: McMillan A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4585667 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature