Vaginal biogenic amines: biomarkers of bacterial vaginosis or precursors to vaginal dysbiosis?

Abstract

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common vaginal disorder among reproductive age women. One clinical indicator of BV is a “fishy” odor. This odor has been associated with increases in several biogenic amines (BAs) that may serve as important biomarkers. Within the vagina, BA production has been linked to various vaginal taxa, yet their genetic capability to synthesize BAs is unknown. Using a bioinformatics approach, we show that relatively few vaginal taxa are predicted to be capable of producing BAs. Many of these taxa (Dialister, Prevotella, Parvimonas, Megasphaera, Peptostreptococcus, and Veillonella spp.) are more abundant in the vaginal microbial community state type (CST) IV, which is depleted in lactobacilli. Several of the major Lactobacillus species (L. crispatus, L. jensenii, and L. gasseri) were identified as possessing gene sequences for proteins predicted to be capable of putrescine production. Finally, we show in a small cross sectional study of 37 women that the BAs putrescine, cadaverine and tyramine are significantly higher in CST IV over CSTs I and III. These data support the hypothesis that BA production is conducted by few vaginal taxa and may be important to the outgrowth of BV-associated (vaginal dysbiosis) vaginal bacteria.

Abnormal vaginal microbiome associated with vaginal mesh complications

“…Other studies have shown that Veillonella spp. are associated with bacterial vaginosis, we believe that they could represent a risk factor for mesh contraction group . Moreover, we detected a trend of an association between higher bacterial diversity and mesh complications when compared with controls, although these findings were not statistically significant.…”

Trace Amines and Their Receptors

“…There is a growing recognition of the role of the commensal microbiota in health and disease, including neurologic and psychiatric disorders (Dinan and Cryan, 2015;Fung et al, 2017), cancer and its chemotherapy (Alexander et al, 2017;Roy and Trinchieri, 2017), metabolic disorders (Sonnenburg and Bäckhed, 2016;Brunkwall and Orho-Melander, 2017), and immune disorders (Honda and Littman, 2016;Thaiss et al, 2016;Fung et al, 2017;Luo et al, 2017). Prokaryotes contain a large array of decarboxylase enzymes, many of which include L-amino acids in their substrate profile (Zheng et al, 2011;Nelson et al, 2015). Indeed, the production of PEA, TYR, and TRP by commensal prokaryotes has been established (Marcobal et al, 2006;Irsfeld et al, 2013;Williams et al, 2014;Yang et al, 2015a), and bacterial production of these compounds was the original basis of Nencki's studies on putrefaction and fermentation (see Grandy, 2007).…”

Does the vaginal microbiota play a role in the development of cervical cancer?

“…There are several proposed mechanisms through which Lactobacillus may afford protection beyond simple inhibition of CST IV-associated anaerobic growth. CST IV is associated with higher levels of amine production compared to the Lactobacillus dominant CST’s 89 , and these biological amines are not only responsible for the characteristic malodourous discharge 90 , but also result in nitrosamine production 91 . These nitrosamines, also produced by tobacco smoking, are known carcinogens 92 , and most interestingly, certain species of Lactobacillus are known to neutralize these carcinogens in vivo 93 .…”