AUTHOR=Yang Xueli , Chang Tian , Yuan Qian , Wei Wei , Wang Pingping , Song Xiaojian , Yuan Huijuan 

TITLE=Changes in the composition of gut and vaginal microbiota in patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2022.930244

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2022.930244

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>Postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO) is influenced by estrogen metabolism and immune response, which are modulated by several factors including the microbiome and inflammation. Therefore, there is increasing interest in understanding the role of microbiota in PMO.</p></sec><sec><title>Objectives</title><p>To investigate variations in gut microbiota (GM) and vaginal microbiota (VM) in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>A total of 132 postmenopausal women were recruited for the study and divided into osteoporosis (n = 34), osteopenia (n = 47), and control (n = 51) groups based on their T score. The serum levels of interleukin (IL)-10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and lipopolysaccharide-binding protein were determined <italic>via</italic> enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Additionally, 16S rRNA gene V3-V4 region sequencing was performed to investigate the GM and VM of the participants.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Significant differences were observed in the microbial compositions of fecal and vaginal samples between groups (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05). It was noted that for GM, <italic>Romboutsia, unclassified_Mollicutes</italic>, and <italic>Weissella</italic> spp. were enriched in the control group, whereas the abundances of <italic>Fusicatenibacter</italic>, <italic>Lachnoclostridium</italic>, and <italic>Megamonas</italic> spp. were higher in the osteoporosis group than in the other groups. Additionally, for VM, <italic>Lactobacillus</italic> was enriched in the control group, whereas the abundances of <italic>Peptoniphilus, Propionimicrobium</italic>, and <italic>Gallicola</italic> spp. were higher in the osteoporosis group than in the other groups. The predicted functional capacities of GM and VM were different in the various groups. We also found that the serum level of IL-10 in the osteoporosis group was significantly lower than that in the control group and osteopenia group, while TNF-α was significantly higher in the osteoporosis group than that in the control group (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>The results show that changes in BMD in postmenopausal women are associated with the changes in GM and VM; however, changes in GM are more closely correlated with PMO than VM.</p></sec>