Cervicovaginal mucus barrier properties during pregnancy are impacted by the vaginal microbiome

Abstract

Introduction: Mucus in the female reproductive tract acts as a barrier that traps and eliminates pathogens and foreign particles via steric and adhesive interactions. During pregnancy, mucus protects the uterine environment from ascension of pathogens and bacteria from the vagina into the uterus, a potential contributor to intrauterine inflammation and preterm birth. As recent work has demonstrated the benefit of vaginal drug delivery in treating women’s health indications, we sought to define the barrier properties of human cervicovaginal mucus (CVM) during pregnancy to inform the design of vaginally delivered therapeutics during pregnancy. Methods: CVM samples were self-collected by pregnant participants over the course of pregnancy, and barrier properties were quantified using multiple particle tracking. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed to analyze the composition of the vaginal microbiome. Results: Participant demographics differed between term delivery and preterm delivery cohorts, with Black or African American participants being significantly more likely to delivery prematurely. We observed that vaginal microbiota is most predictive of CVM barrier properties and of timing of parturition. Lactobacillus crispatus dominated CVM samples showed increased barrier properties compared to polymicrobial CVM samples. Discussion: This work informs our understanding of how infections occur during pregnancy, and directs the engineering of targeted drug treatments for indications during pregnancy.