{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T16:01:42Z","timestamp":1785427302015,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Cambridge University Press (CUP)","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782950400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":182,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["cambridge.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Expert Rev. Mol. Med."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"S1462399426100623_sec01\">\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The vaginal microbiome plays a vital role in maintaining reproductive and urogenital health in females. In healthy women, it is dominated by Lactobacillus species, including\n                      <jats:italic>L. crispatus<\/jats:italic>\n                      ,\n                      <jats:italic>L. gasseri<\/jats:italic>\n                      ,\n                      <jats:italic>L. iners<\/jats:italic>\n                      , and\n                      <jats:italic>L.<\/jats:italic>\n                      <jats:italic>jensenii<\/jats:italic>\n                      . These species provide strong protection against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and other gynecological diseases. They produce lactic acid, which helps maintain a low vaginal pH, supporting epithelial integrity, modulating the immune system, and preventing colonization by bacterial pathogens. Dysbiosis, or an imbalance in microbial communities, is linked to higher susceptibility to infections like\n                      <jats:italic>Chlamydia trachomatis<\/jats:italic>\n                      ,\n                      <jats:italic>Neisseria gonorrhoeae<\/jats:italic>\n                      ,\n                      <jats:italic>Trichomonas<\/jats:italic>\n                      <jats:italic>vaginalis<\/jats:italic>\n                      , HIV, and HPV. The vaginal microbiota is dynamic and can change in response to hormonal shifts, sexual activity, antibiotic use, hygiene practices, and the duration of infection.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"S1462399426100623_sec02\" sec-type=\"methods\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      This review provides a thorough overview of the composition, functions, and protective mechanisms of a healthy vaginal microbiome.\n                      <jats:bold>Results:<\/jats:bold>\n                      Recent research has shown that microbiome-based therapies, such as probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, and vaginal microbiota transplantation, may help restore vaginal microbial balance. Additionally, introducing engineered strains like\n                      <jats:italic>L. jensenii<\/jats:italic>\n                      that produce anti-HIV proteins offers promising new approaches to HIV treatment.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"S1462399426100623_sec03\" sec-type=\"conclusions\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This review also emphasizes therapeutic strategies aimed at stabilizing the vaginal microbiota to lower STI risk.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1017\/erm.2026.10062","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T07:04:47Z","timestamp":1782975887000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/policypage","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Harnessing the vaginal microbiome: a new frontier in the prevention of sexually transmitted infections"],"prefix":"10.1017","volume":"28","author":[{"given":"Roghayeh","family":"Mohammadzadeh","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04sfka033","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Mashhad University of Medical Sciences"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-8061-5675","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Erta","family":"Rajabi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01c4pz451","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Tehran University of Medical Sciences"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rosull","family":"Saadoon Abbood","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/055a6gk50","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of Al-maarif"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6828-4447","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Raad N.","family":"Hasan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01fhw6296","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of Fallujah"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tahereh","family":"Navidifar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01rws6r75","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Shoushtar Faculty of Medical Sciences"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4500-5764","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Narjess","family":"Bostanghadiri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01c4pz451","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Tehran University of Medical Sciences"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"56","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]]},"container-title":["Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/services\/aop-cambridge-core\/content\/view\/S1462399426100623","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]],"date-time":"2026-07-17T13:32:53Z","timestamp":1784295173000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/product\/identifier\/S1462399426100623\/type\/journal_article"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026]]},"references-count":0,"alternative-id":["S1462399426100623"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/erm.2026.10062","relation":{},"ISSN":["1462-3994"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1462-3994","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026]]},"assertion":[{"value":"\u00a9 The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press","name":"copyright","label":"Copyright","group":{"name":"copyright_and_licensing","label":"Copyright and Licensing"}},{"value":"This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.","name":"license","label":"License","group":{"name":"copyright_and_licensing","label":"Copyright and Licensing"}},{"value":"This content has been made available to all.","name":"free","label":"Free to read"}],"article-number":"e33"}}