Alena Velichevskaya

Vestibulodynia is vulvodynia localized to the vulvar vestibule and is a chronic disease defined as vulvar pain of at least three months’ duration, without a defined cause, that severely affects women’s health and quality of life with limited treatment options. We collected stool and vaginal samples from 30 women affected by vestibulodynia and 27 healthy women. Bacterial gut and vaginal microbiomes were characterized by amplicon sequencing, and compositional and functional differences between the control and the patient groups were assessed. No differences in vaginal or fecal alpha and beta diversity were found, but vaginal microbiota of patients was found to be associated with Lactobacillus iners. Moreover, the relative abundance of L. iners negatively correlated with the relative abundance of L. crispatus, and positive correlations between commensals and pathobionts were found in the vestibulodynia vaginal microbiota but not in the healthy controls. The bacterial functions and contributors were defined in the study groups for the fecal and vaginal microbiota. Our results portrayed the vaginal microbiome of patients with vestibulodynia as potentially not as efficient at living in an anaerobic environment as the healthy microbiome is and too inclined to acidify this environment, exposing it to the risk of developing other ailments.

Background: Allergic Rhinitis (AR) is an atopic disease affecting the upper airways of predisposed subjects exposed to aeroallergens. This study evaluates the effects of a mix of specific probiotics (L. acidophilus PBS066, L. rhamnosus LRH020, B. breve BB077, and B. longum subsp. longum BLG240) on symptoms and fecal microbiota modulation in subjects with AR. Methods: Probiotic effects were evaluated at the beginning (T0), at four and eight weeks of treatment (T1 and T2, respectively), and after four weeks of follow-up from the end of treatment (T3) (n = 19) compared to the placebo group (n = 22). AR symptoms and quality of life were evaluated by the mini rhinitis quality of life questionnaire (MiniRQLQ) at each time point. Allergic immune response and fecal microbiota compositions were assessed at T0, T2, and T3. The study was registered on Clinical-Trial.gov (NCT05344352). Results: The probiotic group showed significant improvement in the MiniRQLQ score at T1, T2, and T3 vs. T0 (p < 0.01, p < 0.05, p < 0.01, respectively). At T2, the probiotic group showed an increase in Dorea, which can be negatively associated with allergic diseases, and Fusicatenibacter, an intestinal bacterial genus with anti-inflammatory properties (p-value FDR-corrected = 0.0074 and 0.013, respectively). Conversely, at T3 the placebo group showed an increase in Bacteroides and Ruminococcaceae unassigned, (p-value FDR-corrected = 0.033 and 0.023, respectively) which can be associated with allergies, while the probiotic group showed a significative increase in the Prevotella/Bacteroides ratio (p-value FDR-corrected = 0.023). Conclusions: This probiotic formulation improves symptoms and quality of life in subjects with AR, promoting a shift towards anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic bacterial species in the intestinal microbiota.