title: Trichomonas vaginalis infection in symbiosis with Trichomonasvirus and Mycoplasma.
abstract: Trichomonas vaginalis is a protozoan with an extracellular obligatory parasitic lifestyle exclusively adapted to the human urogenital tract and responsible for nearly a quarter billion sexually transmitted infections worldwide each year. This review focuses on symbiotic Trichomonasvirus and mycoplasmas carried by the protozoan, their molecular features and their role in altering the human vaginal microbiome and the immunopathogenicity of the parasite. Improved diagnostics and larger clinical interventional studies are needed to confirm the causative role of protozoan symbionts in the variable clinical presentation of trichomoniasis and its morbid sequelae, including adverse reproductive outcome, susceptibility to viral infections and cancer.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Genital Tract Biology, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 221 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: rfichorova@rics.bwh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Raina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fichorova
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Department of Parasitology, Institute of Tropical Medicine "Pedro Kouri", Autopista Novia del Mediodía km 61/2, La Lisa 17100, Havana, Cuba. Electronic address: jorgefragan@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fraga
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale S. Pietro 43B, 07100 Sassari, Italy. Electronic address: rappelli@uniss.it.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rappelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale S. Pietro 43B, 07100 Sassari, Italy. Electronic address: fioripl@uniss.it.
authors.forename: Pier Luigi
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Fiori
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009174:Mycoplasma / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D019196:Totiviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014244:Trichomonas / Q000821:virology; D014247:Trichomonas Vaginitis / Q000469:parasitology; D014246:Trichomonas vaginalis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014621:Vagina / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D014627:Vaginitis / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000469:parasitology*
keywords: Candidatus Mycoplasma girerdii; Endosymbionts; Microbiome; Mycoplasma hominis; Trichomoniasis; dsRNA viruses