Comparison of the Vaginal Microbiota in Postmenopausal Black and White Women
Patricia L Hudson, Wodan Ling, Michael C Wu, Matthew R Hayward, Alissa J Mitchell, Joseph Larson, Katherine A Guthrie, Susan D Reed, Douglas S Kwon, Caroline M Mitchell, Patricia L Hudson, Wodan Ling, Michael C Wu, Matthew R Hayward, Alissa J Mitchell, Joseph Larson, Katherine A Guthrie, Susan D Reed, Douglas S Kwon, Caroline M Mitchell
Abstract
Background: We compared vaginal microbial communities in postmenopausal black and white women.
Methods: Shotgun sequencing of vaginal swabs from postmenopausal women self-identified as black or white was compared using MiRKAT.
Results: Vaginal community dominance by Lactobacillus crispatus or Lactobacillusgasseri was more common in 44 postmenopausal black women (n = 12, 27%) than among 44 matched white women (n = 2, 5%; P = .01). No individual taxa were significantly more abundant in either group.
Conclusions: We identified small overall differences in vaginal microbial communities of black and white postmenopausal women. L. crispatus dominance was more common in black women.
Clinical trials registration: NCT02516202 (MsFLASH05) and NCT01418209 (MsFLASH03).
Keywords: Lactobacillus; postmenopausal; race; vaginal microbiome.
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Figures
Source: PubMed