{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,9]],"date-time":"2026-08-09T04:42:03Z","timestamp":1786250523875,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":179,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786060800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National University of South (UNS), Department of Biology, Biochemistry and Pharmacy","award":["PGI 24\/ZB01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PGI 24\/ZB01"]}]},{"name":"National University of South (UNS), Department of Biology, Biochemistry and Pharmacy","award":["PGI 24\/ZB23"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PGI 24\/ZB23"]}]},{"name":"European Union\u2019s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme","award":["101182953"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["101182953"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001677","name":"INSERM","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001677","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02vjkv261","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100008222","name":"University of Montpellier","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100008222","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/051escj72","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"ITMO Cancer","award":["IBiS"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IBiS"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006364","name":"French National Cancer Institute","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["PLBIO25-162"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PLBIO25-162"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006364","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["PLBIO25-162"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PLBIO25-162"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03m8vkq32","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Biology"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Microbiota has emerged as a potential regulator of female reproductive health through immunological, metabolic, and endocrine networks. Growing evidence suggests that the composition and stability of the vaginal, uterine, and gut microbiota are associated with fertility outcomes. Disruptions in reproductive tract homeostasis have been linked to infertility, implantation failure, pregnancy loss, and diminished success in assisted reproductive technologies. Beyond local interactions, maternal gut microbiota may influence systemic immunity and metabolic pathways related to vaginal and endometrial microbiota. While these findings highlight the microbiome-based signatures\u2019 potential as predictive and prognostic biomarkers, their clinical applicability remains unconfirmed. Evidence is limited by small cohort sizes, methodological and analytical heterogeneity, and lack of standardization, limiting clinical translation. This narrative review summarizes the current knowledge regarding the microbiome\u2019s role in female reproductive health, highlighting its potential impact on pathophysiology, diagnostics, and therapeutic strategies. While this approach allows for a broad conceptual overview, we explicitly note that it is not systematic. As a result, this review is limited by the absence of a standardized search protocol, which may introduce selection bias. Finally, we review advances in microbial engineering and synthetic biology, highlighting engineered living biotherapeutics as promising strategies to improve microbiome-based reproductive medicine.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/biology15161337","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T09:14:28Z","timestamp":1786094068000},"page":"1337","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The Female Reproductive Microbiome: Mechanistic Insights and Bioengineering Perspectives"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Mar\u00eda Bel\u00e9n","family":"Novoa D\u00edaz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Biochemistry and Pharmacy, National University of the South (UNS)-INBIOSUR (CONICET-UNS), Bah\u00eda Blanca 8000, Argentina"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pedro","family":"Carriere","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Biochemistry and Pharmacy, National University of the South (UNS)-INBIOSUR (CONICET-UNS), Bah\u00eda Blanca 8000, Argentina"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6190-8528","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gabriel","family":"Vinderola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Industrial Lactology (INLAIN, CONICET-UNL), Faculty of Chemical Engineering, National University of the Littoral, Santa Fe 3000, Argentina"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Claudia","family":"Gentili","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Biochemistry and Pharmacy, National University of the South (UNS)-INBIOSUR (CONICET-UNS), Bah\u00eda Blanca 8000, Argentina"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0048-8531","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Diego I","family":"Cattoni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre de Biologie Structurale (CBS), INSERM U1054, CNRS UMR5048, University of Montpellier, 34090 Montpellier, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2057","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(24)00550-6","article-title":"Global fertility in 204 countries and territories, 1950\u20132021, with forecasts to 2100: A comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021","volume":"403","author":"Bhattacharjee","year":"2024","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"World Health Organization (2026, June 30). 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