{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T12:55:52Z","timestamp":1790686552992,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,4]],"date-time":"2023-01-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1672790400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":676,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,27]],"date-time":"2021-02-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1614384000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.elsevier.com\/tdm\/userlicense\/1.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,23]],"date-time":"2020-12-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1608681600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["smoa.jsexmed.org","elsevier.com","sciencedirect.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>Vulvodynia, vulvar pain syndrome, is defined as vulvar pain of at least a 3-month duration without a clear identifiable cause, which may have associated factor and the etiology and treatment of this challenging disease is still unclear. Dyspareunia is a relevant symptom of patients with vulvodynia. Vaginal microbiome has known an important role in local immune-inflammatory responses and it may be important pathogenic mechanism in vulvodynia.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Aim<\/jats:title><jats:p>The objective of this study was to investigate the association of vaginal microbiome and vulvodynia.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>We analyzed the microbial compositions of the vestibule and vagina among women with clinically diagnosed vulvodynia (n\u00a0=\u00a022) and age-matched healthy controls (n\u00a0=\u00a022) without vulvodynia. The compositions of bacterial microbiomes were compared by pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Main outcome measure<\/jats:title><jats:p>Vaginal microbiome alpha and beta diversity were assessed using the Shannon diversity index and Heat map. Linear discriminant analysis effect size was used to find out marker for vulvodynia.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>There were no significant differences in the age, duration of marriage, history of gynecologic surgery, parity, and menopause status between cases and controls. A total of 1,661,934 high-quality pyrosequencing reads was obtained to evaluate bacterial diversity, and 50,246 unique sequences represented all phylotypes. The type and mean number of the genera were not different between cases and controls. However, the most predominant phyla of bacteria were significantly different between cases and controls. 3 phyla (Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Tenericutes) and 11 genera including Gardnerella, Ureaplasma, Achromobacter, Mycoplasma, and Bifidobacteria were significantly more prevalent in cases than in controls (P\u00a0&amp;lt;\u00a0.05). Linear discriminant analysis effect size analysis suggest the Bifidobacterium, Mycoplasma, and Fenollaria species can be potential markers for vulvodynia.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Our results suggest the differences in vaginal microbiome can be associated with the vulvodynia.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1016\/j.esxm.2020.100314","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,27]],"date-time":"2021-02-27T12:35:13Z","timestamp":1614429313000},"page":"100314-100314","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/elsevier_cm_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["Vaginal Microbiome Is Associated With Vulvodynia, Vulvar Pain Syndrome: A Case-Control Study"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"So Yun","family":"Park","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, Ewha Womans University , Seoul , Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eun Sil","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soonchunhyang University Seoul Hospital, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine , Seoul , Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sa Ra","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul Asan Medical Center , Seoul , Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sung Hoon","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul Asan Medical Center , Seoul , Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hee Dong","family":"Chae","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul Asan Medical Center , Seoul , Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"2023012008401286600_bib1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"745","DOI":"10.1097\/AOG.0000000000001359","article-title":"; consensus vulvar pain terminology committee of the International Society for the study of vulvovaginal disease (ISSVD), the International Society for the study of Women\u02bcs Sexual health (ISSWSH), and the International pelvic pain Society (IPPS). 2015 ISSVD, ISSWSH and IPPS Consensus Terminology and classification of persistent vulvar pain and vulvodynia","volume":"127","author":"Bornstein","year":"2016","journal-title":"Obstet Gynecol"},{"key":"2023012008401286600_bib2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajog.2013.09.033","article-title":"Prevalence of symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of vulvodynia: population-based estimates from 2 geographic regions","volume":"210","author":"Harlow","year":"2014","journal-title":"Am J Obstet Gynecol"},{"key":"2023012008401286600_bib3","first-page":"82","article-title":"A\u00a0population-based assessment of chronic unexplained vulvar pain: have we underestimated the prevalence of vulvodynia?","volume":"58","author":"Harlow","year":"2003","journal-title":"J\u00a0Am Med Womens Assoc"},{"key":"2023012008401286600_bib4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"231","DOI":"10.1097\/AOG.0b013e318180965b","article-title":"Vulvodynia incidence and remission rates among adult women: a 2-year follow-up study","volume":"112","author":"Reed","year":"2008","journal-title":"Obstet Gynecol"},{"key":"2023012008401286600_bib5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"40","DOI":"10.1097\/00128360-200501000-00009","article-title":"The vulvodynia guideline","volume":"9","author":"Haefner","year":"2005","journal-title":"J\u00a0Lower Gen Tract Dis"},{"key":"2023012008401286600_bib6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"154","DOI":"10.1097\/00000478-199502000-00004","article-title":"Vulvar vestibulitis: a histopathologic study of 36 cases, including human papillomavirus in situ hybridization analysis","volume":"19","author":"Prayson","year":"1995","journal-title":"Am J Surg Pathol"},{"key":"2023012008401286600_bib7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"525.e1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajog.2019.08.009","article-title":"Surgical management of neuroproliferative-associated vestibulodynia: a tutorial on vestibulectomy with vaginal advancement flap","volume":"221","author":"Wu","year":"2019","journal-title":"Am J Obstet Gynecol"},{"key":"2023012008401286600_bib8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e242","DOI":"10.1016\/j.esxm.2016.06.003","article-title":"What do patients want? 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Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the International Society for Sexual Medicine.","name":"copyright","label":"Copyright"}]}}