Gut and Vaginal Microbiota in the Endometriosis: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background. Endometriosis is a clinical condition associated with genetic, endocrine, and immunological factors, present in 6 to 10% of women of reproductive age. Currently, the human microbiota has been studied and associated with the evolution of diseases due to its influence on pathogenesis, indicating that changes in the colonization of microorganisms in the genitourinary and gastrointestinal systems can promote physiological changes that can trigger inflammatory and immunological processes and hormonal dysregulation, which can be linked to endometriosis. Thus, this systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated microbiota changes in women with endometriosis. Methods. The following electronic databases were searched up to April 2022: Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and gray literature (Google Scholar), using the keywords "dysbiosis", "microbiome"and "endometriosis", combined with their synonyms. The observational studies conducted with women diagnosed with endometriosis and women without endometriosis as controls were included. For the analyses, a standard mean difference with a 95% confidence interval was used using RevMan software (version 5.4), and for methodological quality assessment, the Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used. Results. A total of 16 studies were found in the literature assessing the composition of the microbiota in women with endometriosis, and no significant difference were found for changes in alpha diversity analysis in gut microbiota (SMD=-0.28; 95% CI=-0.70 to 0.14; P=0.19; I2=52%; four studies, 357 participants) or vaginal microbiota (SMD=-0.68; 95% CI=-1.72 to 0.35; P=0.19; I2=66%; two studies, 49 participants). Conclusion. In intestinal and vaginal samples from women with endometriosis, alpha-diversity did not present a significant difference when compared to the control population. However, each study individually showed a possible relationship between the female microbiota and endometriosis. This trial is registered with CRD42021260972.