{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,10]],"date-time":"2025-12-10T12:36:18Z","timestamp":1765370178534,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,20]],"date-time":"2023-04-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1681948800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Russian state budget","award":["1021062512052-5-3.2.2"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1021062512052-5-3.2.2"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The endometrium has traditionally been considered sterile. Nowadays, active studies are performed on the female upper genital tract microbiota. Bacteria and\/or viruses colonizing the endometrium are known to alter its functional properties, including receptivity and embryo implantation. Uterine cavity inflammation caused by microorganisms leads to disrupted cytokine expression, which, in turn, is mandatory for the successful implantation of the embryo. The present study assessed the vaginal and endometrial microbiota composition and its relation to the levels of cytokines produced by the endometrium in reproductive-aged women complaining of secondary infertility of unknown origin. The multiplex real-time PCR assay was applied for vaginal and endometrial microbiota analysis. The quantitative measurement of endometrial \u03b1-defensin (DEFa1), transforming growth factor (TGF\u03b21), and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF2) was carried out using the ELISA (Cloud-Clone Corporation (Katy, TX, USA; manufactured in Wuhan, China). A reliable decline in endometrial TGF\u03b21 and bFGF2 and an increase in DEFa1 were demonstrated in women with idiopathic infertility when compared to fertile patients. However, TGF\u03b21, bFGF2, and DEFa1 expression correlated reliably only with the presence of Peptostreptococcus spp. and HPV in the uterine cavity. The obtained results highlight the importance of local immune biomarker determination in the assessment of certain bacteria and viruses\u2019 significance as causative agents of infertility.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms24087572","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,20]],"date-time":"2023-04-20T04:53:59Z","timestamp":1681966439000},"page":"7572","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Local Immune Biomarker Expression Depending on the Uterine Microbiota in Patients with Idiopathic Infertility"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"Natalya I.","family":"Tapilskaya","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3870-5930","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alevtina M.","family":"Savicheva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3002-3874","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kira V.","family":"Shalepo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Olga V.","family":"Budilovskaya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Aleksandr M.","family":"Gzgzyan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Olesya N.","family":"Bespalova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tatiana A.","family":"Khusnutdinova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anna A.","family":"Krysanova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kseniia V.","family":"Obedkova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5988-323X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Galina Kh.","family":"Safarian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/s40168-021-01184-w","article-title":"Endometrial microbiota composition is associated with reproductive outcome in infertile patients","volume":"10","author":"Moreno","year":"2022","journal-title":"Microbiome"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"546","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fertnstert.2020.12.010","article-title":"Endometrial causes of recurrent pregnancy losses: Endometriosis, adenomyosis, and chronic endometritis","volume":"115","author":"Pirtea","year":"2021","journal-title":"Fertil. 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