{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,12]],"date-time":"2026-10-12T16:49:20Z","timestamp":1791823760327,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":73,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,16]],"date-time":"2023-02-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1676505600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Danisco Sweeteners Oy"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The primary objective of this randomised, placebo-controlled, triple-blind study was to assess whether orally consumed Lactobacillus acidophilus La-14 (La-14) and Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus HN001 (HN001) colonise a healthy human vagina. Furthermore, potential effects on vaginal microbiota and immune markers were explored. Fifty women devoid of vaginal complaints (Nugent score 0\u20133 and vaginal pH \u2264 4.5) were randomised into a 2-week intervention with either La-14 and HN001 as the verum product or a comparable placebo. Vaginal swab samples were collected at baseline, after one and two weeks of intervention, and after a one-week follow-up, for assessing colonisation of the supplemented lactobacilli, vaginal microbiota, and six specific immune markers. Colonisation of L. acidophilus and L. rhamnosus was not observed above the assay detection limit (5.29 and 5.11 log 10 genomes\/swab for L. acidophilus and L. rhamnosus, respectively). Vaginal microbiotas remained stable and predominated by lactobacilli throughout the intervention, and vaginal pH remained optimal (at least 90% of participants in both groups had pH 4.0 or 4.5 throughout the study). Immune markers elafin and human \u03b2-defensin 3 (HBD-3) were significantly decreased in the verum group (p = 0.022 and p = 0.028, respectively) but did not correlate with any microbiota changes. Adverse events raised no safety concerns, and no undesired changes in the vaginal microbiota or immune markers were detected.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms11020499","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,17]],"date-time":"2023-02-17T02:27:24Z","timestamp":1676600844000},"page":"499","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":17,"title":["A Healthy Vaginal Microbiota Remains Stable during Oral Probiotic Supplementation: A Randomised Controlled Trial"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Anna","family":"Lyra","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"IFF Health & Biosciences, 02460 Kantvik, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Reeta","family":"Ala-Jaakkola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IFF Health & Biosciences, 02460 Kantvik, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nicolas","family":"Yeung","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IFF Health & Biosciences, 02460 Kantvik, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Neeta","family":"Datta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IFF Health & Biosciences, 02460 Kantvik, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kara","family":"Evans","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IFF Health & Biosciences, Madison, WI 53716, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8585-9575","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ashley","family":"Hibberd","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IFF Health & Biosciences, Madison, WI 53716, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Markus J.","family":"Lehtinen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IFF Health & Biosciences, 02460 Kantvik, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sofia D.","family":"Forssten","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IFF Health & Biosciences, 02460 Kantvik, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alvin","family":"Ibarra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IFF Health & Biosciences, 02460 Kantvik, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tommi","family":"Pesonen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Oy 4Pharma Ltd., 20520 Turku, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2703-0798","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jouni","family":"Junnila","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"EstiMates Oy, 20520 Turku, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8348-0633","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Arthur C.","family":"Ouwehand","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IFF Health & Biosciences, 02460 Kantvik, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Keith","family":"Baranowski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CPS Research, Glasgow G20 7BE, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Johanna","family":"Maukonen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IFF Health & Biosciences, 02460 Kantvik, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gordon","family":"Crawford","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CPS Research, Glasgow G20 7BE, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liisa","family":"Lehtoranta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IFF Health & Biosciences, 02460 Kantvik, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"121","DOI":"10.1038\/ismej.2007.12","article-title":"Differences in the composition of vaginal microbial communities found in healthy Caucasian and black women","volume":"1","author":"Zhou","year":"2007","journal-title":"ISME J."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"451","DOI":"10.1113\/JP271694","article-title":"The vaginal microbiota, host defence and reproductive physiology","volume":"595","author":"Smith","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. 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