Vaginal microbiota composition as a diagnostic tool for bacterial vaginosis in pregnant Korean women

Abstract

Objectives: To analyze the relative abundance of five Lactobacillus species, Gardnerella vaginalis, and Atopobium vaginae in the vaginal microbiota of pregnant Korean women to establish diagnostic criteria for bacterial vaginosis (BV). Materials and Methods: Pregnant Korean women under antenatal care at Eulji University Hospital were enrolled at 10–14 weeks gestation. Twelve women were diagnosed with BV, nine had intermediate flora, and 93 had normal flora determined by Nugent score. Vaginal samples were collected to determine the quantification of seven microorganisms by qPCR and compared among the three groups. Results: This study indicated that G. vaginalis, A. vaginae, and L. iners were significantly increased specifically in the BV group (p < 0.001). While L. crispatus was significantly decreased in the BV group (p < 0.001). The area under curve (AUC) values for receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis were 0.934, 0.918, 0.763, and 0.742 for G. vaginalis, A. vaginae, L. iners, and L. crispatus, respectively, suggesting that patients with a higher quantification of G. vaginalis and A. vaginae were more likely to be diagnosed with BV (91.7% and 83.3%, respectively). Conclusions: The quantification of G. vaginalis and A. vaginae may be more useful diagnostic marker for BV in pregnant Korean women than those of Lactobacillus species.