Lactobacilli Dominance and Vaginal pH: Why Is the Human Vaginal Microbiome Unique?

ABSTRACT: The human vaginal microbiome is dominated by bacteria from the genus Lactobacillus, which create an acidic environment thought to protect women against sexually transmitted pathogens and opportunistic infections. Strikingly, lactobacilli dominance appears to be unique to humans; while the relative abundance of lactobacilli in the human vagina is typically >70%, in other mammals lactobacilli rarely comprise more than 1% of vaginal microbiota. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain humans' unique vaginal microbiota, including humans' distinct reproductive physiology, high risk of STDs, and high risk of microbial complications linked to pregnancy and birth. Here, we test these hypotheses using comparative data on vaginal pH and the relative abundance of lactobacilli in 26 mam

SUBMITTER: Miller EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5143676 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature