Interactions between microbiota and cervical epithelial, immune, and mucus barrier

Mengting Dong; Yalan Dong; Junyi Bai; Huanrong Li; Xiaotong Ma; Bijun Li; Chen Wang; Huiyang Li; Wenhui Qi; Yingmei Wang; Aiping Fan; Cha Han; Fengxia Xue

doi:10.3389/fcimb.2023.1124591

Interactions between microbiota and cervical epithelial, immune, and mucus barrier

Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2023 Feb 24:13:1124591. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1124591. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Mengting Dong^{1

2}, Yalan Dong^{1

2}, Junyi Bai^{1

2}, Huanrong Li^{1

2}, Xiaotong Ma^{1

2}, Bijun Li^{1

2}, Chen Wang^{1

2}, Huiyang Li^{1

2}, Wenhui Qi^{1

2}, Yingmei Wang^{1

2}, Aiping Fan^{1

2}, Cha Han^{1

2}, Fengxia Xue^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China.
² Tianjin Key Laboratory of Female Reproductive Health and Eugenic, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China.

Abstract

The female reproductive tract harbours hundreds of bacterial species and produces numerous metabolites. The uterine cervix is located between the upper and lower parts of the female genital tract. It allows sperm and birth passage and hinders the upward movement of microorganisms into a relatively sterile uterus. It is also the predicted site for sexually transmitted infection (STI), such as Chlamydia, human papilloma virus (HPV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The healthy cervicovaginal microbiota maintains cervical epithelial barrier integrity and modulates the mucosal immune system. Perturbations of the microbiota composition accompany changes in microbial metabolites that induce local inflammation, damage the cervical epithelial and immune barrier, and increase susceptibility to STI infection and relative disease progression. This review examined the intimate interactions between the cervicovaginal microbiota, relative metabolites, and the cervical epithelial-, immune-, and mucus barrier, and the potent effect of the host-microbiota interaction on specific STI infection. An improved understanding of cervicovaginal microbiota regulation on cervical microenvironment homeostasis might promote advances in diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for various STI diseases.

Keywords: cervicovaginal microbiota; chlamydia trachomatis; epithelial; human immunodeficiency virus; human papilloma virus; immune; mucus; uterine cervix.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cervix Uteri / microbiology
Female
Humans
Male
Microbiota*
Mucus
Semen
Sexually Transmitted Diseases*
Vagina / microbiology

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Fund of China (Grant No. 82071674), the Tianjin Municipal Science and Technology Commission Special Foundation for Science and Technology Major Projects in the Control and Prevention of Major Diseases (Grant No. 18ZXDBSY00200).