A fruitful alliance: the synergy between Atopobium vaginae and Gardnerella vaginalis in bacterial vaginosis-associated biofilm

Liselotte Hardy; Vicky Jespers; Said Abdellati; Irith De Baetselier; Lambert Mwambarangwe; Viateur Musengamana; Janneke van de Wijgert; Mario Vaneechoutte; Tania Crucitti

doi:10.1136/sextrans-2015-052475

A fruitful alliance: the synergy between Atopobium vaginae and Gardnerella vaginalis in bacterial vaginosis-associated biofilm

Liselotte Hardy, Vicky Jespers, Said Abdellati, Irith De Baetselier, Lambert Mwambarangwe, Viateur Musengamana, Janneke van de Wijgert, Mario Vaneechoutte, Tania Crucitti

Research output: Contribution to journal › A1: Web of Science-article › peer-review

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is characterised by a change in the microbial composition of the vagina. The BV-associated organisms outnumber the health-associated Lactobacillus species and form a polymicrobial biofilm on the vaginal epithelium, possibly explaining the difficulties with antibiotic treatment. A better understanding of vaginal biofilm with emphasis on Atopobium vaginae and Gardnerella vaginalis may contribute to a better diagnosis and treatment of BV.

METHODS: To this purpose, we evaluated the association between the presence of both bacteria by fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) and BV by Nugent scoring in 463 vaginal slides of 120 participants participating in a clinical trial in Rwanda.

RESULTS: A bacterial biofilm was detected in half of the samples using a universal bacterial probe. The biofilm contained A. vaginae in 54.1% and G. vaginalis in 82.0% of the samples. A. vaginae was accompanied by G. vaginalis in 99.5% of samples. The odds of having a Nugent score above 4 were increased for samples with dispersed G. vaginalis and/or A. vaginae present (OR 4.5; CI 2 to 10.3). The probability of having a high Nugent score was even higher when a combination of adherent G. vaginalis and dispersed A. vaginae was visualised (OR 75.6; CI 13.3 to 429.5) and highest when both bacteria were part of the biofilm (OR 119; CI 39.9 to 360.8).

CONCLUSIONS: Our study, although not comprehensive at studying the polymicrobial biofilm in BV, provided a strong indication towards the importance of A. vaginae and the symbiosis of A. vaginae and G. vaginalis in this biofilm.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01796613.

Original language	English
Journal	Sexually Transmitted Infections
Volume	92
Issue number	7
Pages (from-to)	487-491
Number of pages	5
ISSN	1368-4973
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2015-052475
Publication status	Published - 2016

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10.1136/sextrans-2015-052475

http://sti.bmj.com/content/early/2016/03/10/sextrans-2015-052475.full

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Hardy, L., Jespers, V., Abdellati, S., De Baetselier, I., Mwambarangwe, L., Musengamana, V., van de Wijgert, J., Vaneechoutte, M., & Crucitti, T. (2016). A fruitful alliance: the synergy between Atopobium vaginae and Gardnerella vaginalis in bacterial vaginosis-associated biofilm. Sexually Transmitted Infections, 92(7), 487-491. https://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2015-052475

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title = "A fruitful alliance: the synergy between Atopobium vaginae and Gardnerella vaginalis in bacterial vaginosis-associated biofilm",

abstract = "OBJECTIVES: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is characterised by a change in the microbial composition of the vagina. The BV-associated organisms outnumber the health-associated Lactobacillus species and form a polymicrobial biofilm on the vaginal epithelium, possibly explaining the difficulties with antibiotic treatment. A better understanding of vaginal biofilm with emphasis on Atopobium vaginae and Gardnerella vaginalis may contribute to a better diagnosis and treatment of BV.METHODS: To this purpose, we evaluated the association between the presence of both bacteria by fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) and BV by Nugent scoring in 463 vaginal slides of 120 participants participating in a clinical trial in Rwanda.RESULTS: A bacterial biofilm was detected in half of the samples using a universal bacterial probe. The biofilm contained A. vaginae in 54.1% and G. vaginalis in 82.0% of the samples. A. vaginae was accompanied by G. vaginalis in 99.5% of samples. The odds of having a Nugent score above 4 were increased for samples with dispersed G. vaginalis and/or A. vaginae present (OR 4.5; CI 2 to 10.3). The probability of having a high Nugent score was even higher when a combination of adherent G. vaginalis and dispersed A. vaginae was visualised (OR 75.6; CI 13.3 to 429.5) and highest when both bacteria were part of the biofilm (OR 119; CI 39.9 to 360.8).CONCLUSIONS: Our study, although not comprehensive at studying the polymicrobial biofilm in BV, provided a strong indication towards the importance of A. vaginae and the symbiosis of A. vaginae and G. vaginalis in this biofilm.TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01796613.",

author = "Liselotte Hardy and Vicky Jespers and Said Abdellati and {De Baetselier}, Irith and Lambert Mwambarangwe and Viateur Musengamana and {van de Wijgert}, Janneke and Mario Vaneechoutte and Tania Crucitti",

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doi = "10.1136/sextrans-2015-052475",

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Hardy, L, Jespers, V, Abdellati, S , De Baetselier, I, Mwambarangwe, L, Musengamana, V, van de Wijgert, J, Vaneechoutte, M & Crucitti, T 2016, 'A fruitful alliance: the synergy between Atopobium vaginae and Gardnerella vaginalis in bacterial vaginosis-associated biofilm', Sexually Transmitted Infections, vol. 92, no. 7, pp. 487-491. https://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2015-052475

TY - JOUR

T1 - A fruitful alliance: the synergy between Atopobium vaginae and Gardnerella vaginalis in bacterial vaginosis-associated biofilm

AU - Hardy, Liselotte

AU - Jespers, Vicky

AU - Abdellati, Said

AU - De Baetselier, Irith

AU - Mwambarangwe, Lambert

AU - Musengamana, Viateur

AU - van de Wijgert, Janneke

AU - Vaneechoutte, Mario

AU - Crucitti, Tania

N1 - NPP

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - OBJECTIVES: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is characterised by a change in the microbial composition of the vagina. The BV-associated organisms outnumber the health-associated Lactobacillus species and form a polymicrobial biofilm on the vaginal epithelium, possibly explaining the difficulties with antibiotic treatment. A better understanding of vaginal biofilm with emphasis on Atopobium vaginae and Gardnerella vaginalis may contribute to a better diagnosis and treatment of BV.METHODS: To this purpose, we evaluated the association between the presence of both bacteria by fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) and BV by Nugent scoring in 463 vaginal slides of 120 participants participating in a clinical trial in Rwanda.RESULTS: A bacterial biofilm was detected in half of the samples using a universal bacterial probe. The biofilm contained A. vaginae in 54.1% and G. vaginalis in 82.0% of the samples. A. vaginae was accompanied by G. vaginalis in 99.5% of samples. The odds of having a Nugent score above 4 were increased for samples with dispersed G. vaginalis and/or A. vaginae present (OR 4.5; CI 2 to 10.3). The probability of having a high Nugent score was even higher when a combination of adherent G. vaginalis and dispersed A. vaginae was visualised (OR 75.6; CI 13.3 to 429.5) and highest when both bacteria were part of the biofilm (OR 119; CI 39.9 to 360.8).CONCLUSIONS: Our study, although not comprehensive at studying the polymicrobial biofilm in BV, provided a strong indication towards the importance of A. vaginae and the symbiosis of A. vaginae and G. vaginalis in this biofilm.TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01796613.

AB - OBJECTIVES: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is characterised by a change in the microbial composition of the vagina. The BV-associated organisms outnumber the health-associated Lactobacillus species and form a polymicrobial biofilm on the vaginal epithelium, possibly explaining the difficulties with antibiotic treatment. A better understanding of vaginal biofilm with emphasis on Atopobium vaginae and Gardnerella vaginalis may contribute to a better diagnosis and treatment of BV.METHODS: To this purpose, we evaluated the association between the presence of both bacteria by fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) and BV by Nugent scoring in 463 vaginal slides of 120 participants participating in a clinical trial in Rwanda.RESULTS: A bacterial biofilm was detected in half of the samples using a universal bacterial probe. The biofilm contained A. vaginae in 54.1% and G. vaginalis in 82.0% of the samples. A. vaginae was accompanied by G. vaginalis in 99.5% of samples. The odds of having a Nugent score above 4 were increased for samples with dispersed G. vaginalis and/or A. vaginae present (OR 4.5; CI 2 to 10.3). The probability of having a high Nugent score was even higher when a combination of adherent G. vaginalis and dispersed A. vaginae was visualised (OR 75.6; CI 13.3 to 429.5) and highest when both bacteria were part of the biofilm (OR 119; CI 39.9 to 360.8).CONCLUSIONS: Our study, although not comprehensive at studying the polymicrobial biofilm in BV, provided a strong indication towards the importance of A. vaginae and the symbiosis of A. vaginae and G. vaginalis in this biofilm.TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01796613.

U2 - 10.1136/sextrans-2015-052475

DO - 10.1136/sextrans-2015-052475

M3 - A1: Web of Science-article

C2 - 26965870

SN - 1368-4973

VL - 92

SP - 487

EP - 491

JO - Sexually Transmitted Infections

JF - Sexually Transmitted Infections

IS - 7

ER -

A fruitful alliance: the synergy between Atopobium vaginae and Gardnerella vaginalis in bacterial vaginosis-associated biofilm

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