Recent advances in understanding of multifaceted changes in the vaginal microenvironment: implications in vaginal health and therapeutics

Abstract

The vagina endures multifaceted changes from neonatal to menopausal phases due to hormonal flux, metabolite deposition, and microbial colonization. These features have important implications in women’s health. Several pre-factors show dynamic characteristics according to the phases that shift the vaginal microbiota from anaerobes to aerobes which is a hallmark of healthy vaginal environment. These factors include oestrogen levels, glycogen deposition, and vaginal microstructure. In the adult phase, Lactobacillus is highly dominant and regulates pH, adherence, aggregation, immune modulation, synthesis of bacteriocins, and biosurfactants (BSs) which are antagonistic to pathogens. Maternal factors are protective by favouring the colonization of lactobacilli in the vagina in the neonatal phase, which diminishes with age. The dominance of lactobacilli and dysbiosis in the adult phase depends on intrinsic and extrinsic factors in women, which vary between ethnicities. Recent developments in probiotics used against vaginal microbiome dysbiosis have shown great promise in restoring the normal microbiota including preventing the loss of beneficial bacteria. However, further in-depth studies are warranted to ensure long-term protection by probiotics. This review highlights various aspects of the vaginal microenvironment in different phases of growth and diverse ethnicities. Furthermore, it discusses future trends for formulating more effective population-specific probiotics and implications of paraprobiotics and postbiotics as effective therapeutics.