Microbiota in Genitourinary System and Infertility

Abstract

Symbiotic relationship between microbial flora in human body and our body plays a key role in maintaining a healthy life. It has been suggested that microbiota of our body protects us against pathogens, supports our immune system and plays a role in the synthesis of certain necessary micronutrients. Human microbiota is composed of bacteria, fungi and viruses, and their number exceeds 10 trillion in total. This number is 100 times more than the number of other cells in our body. The human gastrointestinal system and the genitourinary system have been showed to have several types of microbes that could have symbiotic functions in several systems including the reproductive system of the females. There have been several developments recently that enabled the researchers to determine the microbial diversity and rates in our body in a surprising accuracy with next-generation sequencing technique (NGS). Such developments have been the turning point in the understanding of relationship between microbiota and human health.