Molecular investigation of vaginal bacteria in preterm birth women

Abstract

The current study was aimed to molecular investigation five species of bacterial vaginosis in preterm birth women including Gardnerella vaginalis, Megasphaera vaginalis, Mobiluncus curtisii, Prevotella, and Facklamia. A total of 90 preterm birth women of different ages were selected from different governmental and private hospitals in Wasit province (Iraq). Vaginal swabs were collected from each woman under aseptic conditions into plastic tubes to be examined molecularly using the conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Targeting the 16S rRNA gene, 6 different bacterial species were identified molecularly using the PCR assay in 58.89% vaginal swabs of preterm birth women. Among the infected women, significant increase (p≤0.0175) in bacterial species was seen in mixed infections (64.15%) when compared to single infections (35.85%). This study reported that the infection rate of bacterial species in single infections was increased significantly (p≤0.0323) for Gardnerella vaginalis (57.89%) infection and decreased significantly for Prevotella spp. (5.26%) and Facklamia spp. (5.26%) infections when compared to others; Megasphaera vaginalis (21.05%), and Mobiluncus curtisii (10.53%). For mixed infections, significant increase (p≤0.0235) in values of mixed infection was observed in G. vaginalis and M. vaginalis (38.24%) while decrease was recorded in M. curtisii and Prevotella spp. (2.94%); Prevotella spp. and Facklamia spp. (5.88%); G. vaginalis, M. vaginalis and M. curtisii (2.94%); as well as Prevotella spp., Facklamia spp. and M. curtisii (2.94%). In conclusion, many bacterial species might be implicated in incidence of vaginosis in preterm birth women in particular Gardnerella vaginalis that detected significantly in both single and mixed infections. This suggests that additional studies are necessary to identify the possible role for each bacterial infection in various pregnancy disorders.