{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,27]],"date-time":"2026-01-27T23:27:32Z","timestamp":1769556452642,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,7]],"date-time":"2024-06-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1717718400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>We assessed the <jats:italic>in vitro<\/jats:italic> anti-chlamydial activity of fresh vaginal secretions, deciphering the microbial and metabolic components able to counteract <jats:italic>Chlamydia trachomatis<\/jats:italic> viability.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Forty vaginal samples were collected from a group of reproductive-aged women and their anti-chlamydial activity was evaluated by inhibition experiments. Each sample underwent 16S rRNA metabarcoding sequencing to determine the bacterial composition, as well as <jats:sup>1<\/jats:sup>H-NMR spectroscopy to detect and quantify the presence of vaginal metabolites.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Samples characterized by a high anti-chlamydial activity were enriched in <jats:italic>Lactobacillus<\/jats:italic>, especially <jats:italic>Lactobacillus crispatus<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Lactobacillus iners<\/jats:italic>, while not-active samples exhibited a significant reduction of lactobacilli, along with higher relative abundances of <jats:italic>Streptococcus<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Olegusella<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>Lactobacillus gasseri <\/jats:italic>showed an opposite behavior compared to <jats:italic>L. crispatus<\/jats:italic>, being more prevalent in not-active vaginal samples. Higher concentrations of several amino acids (i.e., isoleucine, leucine, and aspartate; positively correlated to the abundance of <jats:italic>L. crispatus<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>L. jensenii<\/jats:italic>) lactate, and 4-aminobutyrate were the most significant metabolic fingerprints of highly active samples. Acetate and formate concentrations, on the other hand, were related to the abundances of a group of anaerobic opportunistic bacteria (including <jats:italic>Prevotella, Dialister, Olegusella, Peptostreptococcus, Peptoniphilus, Finegoldia<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Anaerococcus<\/jats:italic>). Finally, glucose, correlated to <jats:italic>Streptococcus, Lachnospira<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Alloscardovia<\/jats:italic> genera, emerged as a key molecule of the vaginal environment: indeed, the anti-chlamydial effect of vaginal fluids decreased as glucose concentrations increased.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>These findings could pave the way for novel strategies in the prevention and treatment of chlamydial urogenital infections, such as lactobacilli probiotic formulations or lactobacilli-derived postbiotics.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2024.1403782","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,11]],"date-time":"2024-06-11T19:15:10Z","timestamp":1718133310000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Anti-chlamydial activity of vaginal fluids: new evidence from an in vitro model"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Sara","family":"Morselli","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Camilla","family":"Ceccarani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marielle Ezekielle","family":"Djusse","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Luca","family":"Laghi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tania","family":"Camboni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Clarissa","family":"Consolandi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Claudio","family":"Foschi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marco","family":"Severgnini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Antonella","family":"Marangoni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1283","DOI":"10.1177\/0956462415616038","article-title":"Prevalent bacterial vaginosis infection - a risk factor for incident sexually transmitted infections in women in Durban, South Africa","volume":"27","author":"Abbai","year":"2016","journal-title":"Int. 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