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Apoptosis of vaginal epithelial cells in clinical samples from women with diagnosed bacterial vaginosis

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is one of the most common vaginal infections among women of childbearing age. Gardnerella vaginalis (G. vaginalis) is a keystone microorganism present in more than 95% of all BV cases. The first step of the infection process in BV is mediated by interaction of microorganisms...

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Autores principales: Roselletti, Elena, Sabbatini, Samuele, Perito, Stefano, Mencacci, Antonella, Vecchiarelli, Anna, Monari, Claudia
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7005030/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32029862
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58862-2
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author Roselletti, Elena
Sabbatini, Samuele
Perito, Stefano
Mencacci, Antonella
Vecchiarelli, Anna
Monari, Claudia
author_facet Roselletti, Elena
Sabbatini, Samuele
Perito, Stefano
Mencacci, Antonella
Vecchiarelli, Anna
Monari, Claudia
author_sort Roselletti, Elena
collection PubMed
description Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is one of the most common vaginal infections among women of childbearing age. Gardnerella vaginalis (G. vaginalis) is a keystone microorganism present in more than 95% of all BV cases. The first step of the infection process in BV is mediated by interaction of microorganisms with epithelial cells (ECs). However, the role of these cells in BV pathogenesis is largely unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the vaginal EC response during BV. Twenty healthy women and 34 women with BV were enrolled in this study. The number of ECs in the vaginal swab was counted and analyzed for intracellular signals and apoptosis by flow cytometry. Cell damage was evaluated by lactate dehydrogenase assay. Compared to that in healthy donors, the percentage of exfoliated vaginal ECs was increased in women with BV, and an absence of neutrophils was observed in both groups. Activation signals, such as p-IκBα and c-Fos were unmodulated in the vaginal ECs of women with BV. Moreover, EC damage and apoptosis were significantly increased in patients with BV. Apoptosis was related to caspase-3 activation and the presence of G. vaginalis. This study provides the first evidence of a direct involvement of G. vaginalis in the apoptotic process of vaginal ECs during BV. This effect was mediated by caspase-3 activation, and G. vaginalis appeared to be one of causes for inducing EC apoptosis in BV. Hence, our findings suggest a possible explanation for the increased exfoliation of ECs in the vagina during BV.
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spelling pubmed-70050302020-02-14 Apoptosis of vaginal epithelial cells in clinical samples from women with diagnosed bacterial vaginosis Roselletti, Elena Sabbatini, Samuele Perito, Stefano Mencacci, Antonella Vecchiarelli, Anna Monari, Claudia Sci Rep Article Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is one of the most common vaginal infections among women of childbearing age. Gardnerella vaginalis (G. vaginalis) is a keystone microorganism present in more than 95% of all BV cases. The first step of the infection process in BV is mediated by interaction of microorganisms with epithelial cells (ECs). However, the role of these cells in BV pathogenesis is largely unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the vaginal EC response during BV. Twenty healthy women and 34 women with BV were enrolled in this study. The number of ECs in the vaginal swab was counted and analyzed for intracellular signals and apoptosis by flow cytometry. Cell damage was evaluated by lactate dehydrogenase assay. Compared to that in healthy donors, the percentage of exfoliated vaginal ECs was increased in women with BV, and an absence of neutrophils was observed in both groups. Activation signals, such as p-IκBα and c-Fos were unmodulated in the vaginal ECs of women with BV. Moreover, EC damage and apoptosis were significantly increased in patients with BV. Apoptosis was related to caspase-3 activation and the presence of G. vaginalis. This study provides the first evidence of a direct involvement of G. vaginalis in the apoptotic process of vaginal ECs during BV. This effect was mediated by caspase-3 activation, and G. vaginalis appeared to be one of causes for inducing EC apoptosis in BV. Hence, our findings suggest a possible explanation for the increased exfoliation of ECs in the vagina during BV. Nature Publishing Group UK 2020-02-06 /pmc/articles/PMC7005030/ /pubmed/32029862 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58862-2 Text en © The Author(s) 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
spellingShingle Article
Roselletti, Elena
Sabbatini, Samuele
Perito, Stefano
Mencacci, Antonella
Vecchiarelli, Anna
Monari, Claudia
Apoptosis of vaginal epithelial cells in clinical samples from women with diagnosed bacterial vaginosis
title Apoptosis of vaginal epithelial cells in clinical samples from women with diagnosed bacterial vaginosis
title_full Apoptosis of vaginal epithelial cells in clinical samples from women with diagnosed bacterial vaginosis
title_fullStr Apoptosis of vaginal epithelial cells in clinical samples from women with diagnosed bacterial vaginosis
title_full_unstemmed Apoptosis of vaginal epithelial cells in clinical samples from women with diagnosed bacterial vaginosis
title_short Apoptosis of vaginal epithelial cells in clinical samples from women with diagnosed bacterial vaginosis
title_sort apoptosis of vaginal epithelial cells in clinical samples from women with diagnosed bacterial vaginosis
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7005030/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32029862
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58862-2
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