Reproductive Microbiomes: A New Thread in the Microbial Network

Power, Michael L.; Quaglieri, Caroline W.; Schulkin, Jay

doi:10.1177/1933719117698577

Cited by 51 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 100 publications

(168 reference statements)

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“…Because of the invasive nature of sampling methods, microorganisms populating the female reproductive tract remain less explored compared to microbiota populating the intestines; nonetheless, they represent an appreciable proportion (around 9%) of the female microbial network (3). Furthermore, disrupted female reproductive tract microbial communities have been implicated in reproductive and pregnancy complications, as reviewed in (4,5). Reproductive and pregnancy complications are of global health interest, and comprise diverse health problems that occur prior to conception and during gestation.…”

Section: Global Burden Of Pregnancy Complicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Abnormal composition and/or function of the of reproductive tract dysbiosis is implicated in various gynecological disorders and pregnancy complications (4,114,115) (Figure 2). Although many gynecological disorders have been linked to dysbiosis and can indirectly affect reproductive outcomes [e.g., endometriosis and ectopic pregnancy (55)], discussion of these specific complications is outside the scope of this review.…”

Section: Clinical Implications Of Dysbiosis and Disturbed Immune Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Interplay Between Reproductive Tract Microbiota and Immunological System in Human Reproduction

et al. 2020

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In the last decade, the microbiota, i.e., combined populations of microorganisms living inside and on the surface of the human body, has increasingly attracted attention of researchers in the medical field. Indeed, since the completion of the Human Microbiome Project, insight and interest in the role of microbiota in health and disease, also through study of its combined genomes, the microbiome, has been steadily expanding. One less explored field of microbiome research has been the female reproductive tract. Research mainly from the past decade suggests that microbial communities residing in the reproductive tract represent a large proportion of the female microbial network and appear to be involved in reproductive failure and pregnancy complications. Microbiome research is facing technological and methodological challenges, as detection techniques and analysis methods are far from being standardized. A further hurdle is understanding the complex host-microbiota interaction and the confounding effect of a multitude of constitutional and environmental factors. A key regulator of this interaction is the maternal immune system that, during the peri-conceptional stage and even more so during pregnancy, undergoes considerable modulation. This review aims to summarize the current literature on reproductive tract microbiota describing the composition of microbiota in different anatomical locations (vagina, cervix, endometrium, and placenta). We also discuss putative mechanisms of interaction between such microbial communities and various aspects of the immune system, with a focus on the characteristic immunological changes during normal pregnancy. Furthermore, we discuss how abnormal microbiota composition, "dysbiosis," is linked to a spectrum of clinical disorders related to the female reproductive system and how the maternal immune system is involved. Finally, based on the data presented in this review, the future perspectives in diagnostic approaches, research directions and therapeutic opportunities are explored.

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Section: Global Burden Of Pregnancy Complicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Clinical Implications Of Dysbiosis and Disturbed Immune Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Interplay Between Reproductive Tract Microbiota and Immunological System in Human Reproduction

et al. 2020

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“…Another point which is still poorly investigated and worthy of exploration is represented by endometrial microbiota modifications during the menstrual cycle and their potential influence on the partner's semen microbiome. Since it is known that hormones influence the microbiota [46,47], it will be expected that estrogen fluctuations during the menstrual cycle may impact the uterine microbiota composition. According to this hypothesis, Chen et al analyzing 95 women in the proliferative and secretory phases, found that the Propionibacterium acnes was more abundant in the uterus during the secretory phase [48].…”

Section: The Role Of Semen Microbiome On Reproductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbiota and Human Reproduction: The Case of Male Infertility

et al. 2020

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The increasing interest in metagenomics is enhancing our knowledge regarding the composition and role of the microbiota in human physiology and pathology. Indeed, microbes have been reported to play a role in several diseases, including infertility. In particular, the male seminal microbiota has been suggested as an important factor able to influence couple’s health and pregnancy outcomes, as well as offspring health. Nevertheless, few studies have been carried out to date to deeper investigate semen microbiome origins and functions, and its correlations with the partner’s reproductive tract microbiome. Here, we report the state of the art regarding the male reproductive system microbiome and its alterations in infertility.

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“…Similarly, the male reproductive tract microbiome also hosts an active microbiome, as sampled and studied with seminal microbiome samples (Hou et al , Weng et al ). The reproductive system microbiomes play significant roles at different stages of the reproductive process, including gamete formation, fertilization, pregnancy and colonization of the newborn (Power et al , Moreno and Simon ). We therefore postulate that both the microbiomes from the male reproductive tract and female reproductive tracts should have a tendency to homogenize with each other due to the exchange of microbes in sexual reproduction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We further compare both vaginal and semen microbiomes with a third type, arguably ‘isolated’ from them both, the gut microbiome, to highlight our focal objective. We realize that the ‘isolation’ between gut microbiome and reproductive system microbiomes is relative because the microbiomes on or in different habitats of our bodies are interconnected as a network (Power et al ). We were motivated to discuss possible ecological, evolutionary and reproductive implications from the comparisons.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human reproductive system microbiomes exhibited significantly different heterogeneity scaling with gut microbiome, but the intra‐system scaling is invariant

Taylor

2020

Oikos

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Maintaining sexual reproduction in a highly competitive world is still one of the major mysteries of biology given the apparently high efficiency of asexual reproduction. Co‐evolutionary theories such as the Red Queen hypothesis would suggest that the microbiomes in human reproductive systems, specifically the microbiomes contained in semen and vaginal fluids, should reach some level of homogeneity thanks to arguably the most conspicuous microbiome transmission between two sexes. The long‐term sexual coevolution should favor the dynamic homogeneity or stability, which should also be beneficial for sexual reproduction such as sperm survival or fertilization on physiological/ecological time scale. We present a piece of quantitative evidence in the form of microbial community spatial heterogeneity to support the stability notion by analyzing three big datasets of the human vaginal, semen and gut microbiome. Methodologically, we applied a recent community‐level extension to the classic Taylor's power law, which reached the rare status of ecological law and has found applications beyond biology. Both ecological and evolutionary theories, such as hologenome/holobiont and Red Queen, as well as consideration of first principles, would predict that microbiome transmissions between two sexes should have homogenizing effects on the composition and stability of the microbiomes in human reproductive systems, and therefore have similar variance structures. This is supported by the finding that the power law analysis revealed human vaginal and semen microbiomes exhibited the same scaling parameter size in their community spatial (inter‐individual) heterogeneities, while the both exhibited significantly different heterogeneity scaling parameter size with the human gut microbiome.

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Reproductive Microbiomes: A New Thread in the Microbial Network

Abstract: Background: Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disease which results in significant pain and long term reproductive consequences for up to 50% of infertile women. This study was focused to understand how endometriosis altered the uterine and cervical bacterial community.

Cited by 51 publications

References 100 publications

The Interplay Between Reproductive Tract Microbiota and Immunological System in Human Reproduction

The Interplay Between Reproductive Tract Microbiota and Immunological System in Human Reproduction

Microbiota and Human Reproduction: The Case of Male Infertility

Human reproductive system microbiomes exhibited significantly different heterogeneity scaling with gut microbiome, but the intra‐system scaling is invariant

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