Commentary: The Vaginal and Urinary Microbiomes in Premenopausal Women With Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome as Compared to Unaffected Controls: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

In this article, Meriwether et al. have assessed the vaginal and urinary microbiome to detect alterations associated with the presence of Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (ICBPS). The study group included 23 women with ICBPS and 18 controls. No significant differences were found in the vaginal or urinary microbiome between the groups. ICBPS women presented lower scores in the applied questionnaires: Overactive Bladder Questionnaire, Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory-20, modified Body Image Scale and several Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire-IUGA Revised (PISQ-IR) domains in sexually active women. My main doubt concerns the PISQ-IR calculation system, which could influence the obtained results.