title: Strong correspondence in bacterial loads between the vagina and rectum of pregnant women.
abstract: We sampled the vagina and rectum in 71 pregnant women and bacterial loads of Lactobacillus crispatus, L. jensenii, L. gasseri, L. iners, Gardnerella vaginalis and Atopobium vaginae were determined by culture and quantitative PCR (qPCR). Culture and qPCR results differed substantially with regard to the evaluation of vaginal and rectal occurrence of the six species tested. The vaginal-rectal prevalence of L. crispatus, L. jensenii, L. gasseri, L. iners, G. vaginalis and A. vaginae as established by culture vs. PCR was 32.3 vs. 91.5%, 32.3 vs. 77.4%, 28.1 vs. 91.5%, 12.6 vs. 68.5%, 12.6 vs. 74.6% and 5.6 vs. 69.0%, respectively. Using qPCR, a significant positive correlation was found between vaginal and rectal loads of L. crispatus (p < 0.0001), L. jensenii (p < 0.0001), L. gasseri (p = 0.005), L. iners (p = 0.003) and A. vaginae (p = 0.002). In summary, significant correlations between quantities of vaginal and rectal lactobacilli and of Atopobium vaginae were established by means of qPCR, indicating strong correspondence of vaginal and rectal microflora, not only in the occurrence of certain species in both niches, but also of cell densities per bacterial species.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bacteriology Research, Department of Clinical Chemistry, Microbiology & Immunology, Ghent University, 3BlokA, 185 De Pintelaan, 9000 Ghent, Flanders, Belgium. Nabil.ElAila@UGent.be
authors.forename: Nabil Abdullah
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: El Aila
authors.forename: Inge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tency
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Saerens
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Backer
authors.forename: Piet
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cools
authors.forename: Guido Lopes
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: dos Santos Santiago
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Verstraelen
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Verhelst
authors.forename: Marleen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Temmerman
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vaneechoutte
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D058491:Bacterial Load; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D012007:Rectum / Q000382:microbiology*; D014621:Vagina / Q000382:microbiology*