Novel PCR-Based Methods Enhance Characterization of Vaginal Microbiota in a Bacterial Vaginosis Patient before and after Treatment

Abstract

Deep characterization, even by next-generation sequencing, of the vaginal microbiota in healthy women or posttreatment bacterial vaginosis patients is limited by the dominance of lactobacilli. To improve detection, we offer two approaches: quantitative PCR (qPCR) using phylogenetic branch-inclusive primers and sequencing of broad-spectrum amplicons generated with oligomers that block amplification of lactobacilli.