Abstract
The present study investigated the anti-bacterial vaginitis (BV) effects of a mixture of five lactobacilli strains (LM5), containing equal amounts of Ligilactobacillus salivarius MG242, Limosilactobacillus fermentum MG901, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum MG989, Lacticaseibacillus paracasei MG4272, and Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus MG4288), in HeLa cells and Gardnerella vaginalis (GV)-infected BV mice. All strains produced lactic acid and hydrogen peroxide, and were resistant to nonoxynol-9. LM5 significantly inhibited GV growth by 80%, exhibited good adhesion to HeLa cells, and significantly inhibited GV adhesion to these cells. In GV-infected mice, LM5 administered orally at 5 × 109 CFU/mouse significantly inhibited GV proliferation in the vaginal tract and significantly reduced myeloperoxidase activity, pro-inflammatory cytokine (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) levels, and nitric oxide levels in vaginal tissue lysates. Histopathological analysis of vaginal tissues revealed that LM5 markedly suppressed the exfoliation of vaginal epithelial cells. Overall, these results suggest that LM5 might alleviate BV by direct antibacterial and antagonistic activity in vaginal tissues of GV-infected mice.
Highlights
The vaginal environment of a healthy woman contains over 250 species of bacteria and is maintained by complex interactions or synergies between the host and microbes colonizing the vaginal mucous membrane [1,2]
The vaginal epithelial exfoliation score was significantly higher in the control group (CON) group within the normal range, and no group showed inflammatory cell infiltration of vaginal
The high lactic acid and H2 O2 production abilities of the five strains corresponded to antibacterial activities against Gardnerella vaginalis (GV), and our results suggested that the lactobacilli strain mixture more effectively inhibited GV growth than individual strains
Summary
The vaginal environment of a healthy woman contains over 250 species of bacteria and is maintained by complex interactions or synergies between the host and microbes colonizing the vaginal mucous membrane [1,2]. Disruption of these microbial barriers can lead to a variety of urogenital diseases. Vaginitis is an inflammatory disease characterized by vaginal itching, fever, odor, and abnormal secretions from infected vaginal mucous membranes. This disease is primarily caused by infection or changes in the abnormal microbiota of the vagina [3].
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