Microbiome of the lower genital tract in Chinese women with endometriosis by 16s-rRNA sequencing technique: a pilot study

Sikai Chen, Zhiyue Gu, Wen Zhang, Shuangzheng Jia, Yushi Wu, Ping Zheng, Yi Dai, Jinhua Leng
Annals of translational medicine · 2020 · vol. 8(21) , pp. 1440 · doi:10.21037/atm-20-1309 · PMID:33313185 · W2990139198
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This pilot study analyzed 16S rRNA sequencing data from Chinese women, finding distinct lower genital tract microbiota profiles in endometriosis patients, with higher *Atopobium* abundance in those with co-occurring adenomyosis.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

This pilot study used 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing (V3–V4) to profile the microbiome of the lower genital tract in 68 Chinese women, collecting cervical canal, posterior fornix, and (in only two consenting cases) endometrial samples under conditions designed to minimize contamination. After quality filtering and analysis using OTU/ASV-based approaches, alpha and beta diversity metrics, LEfSe for biomarker discovery, and PICRUSt for functional inference via KEGG orthology, the authors compared microbiota features across disease groups, aiming to develop a microbiota profile model for endometriosis or adenomyosis while identifying significant taxa. A major limitation explicitly noted in the reported methods/results is the very small number of uterine cavity samples (only two), limiting conclusions about intrauterine microbiota. This paper is centrally about endometriosis and adenomyosis microbiome profiling — it is a pilot study of lower genital tract 16S rRNA signatures in Chinese women with endometriosis/adenomyosis.

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Abstract

Background: Endometriosis is a benign, chronic, gynecological disease which affect the women in reproductive age. The dysfunction of immune system is associated with endometriosis and the diversity of microbiota in genital tract. According to previous studies, microbiota significantly contributes to multi-systemic function, but the evidence of relationship between microbiota and endometriosis remains insufficient. Methods: There are 68 participants were included in this study and 134 samples obtained from the cervical canal, posterior fornix and uterine cavity were analyzed by 16s-rRNA sequencing. The raw data was filtered, analyzed, and visualized, and bio-information methods were used to identify the characteristics of microbiota. Results: Two different locations near the cervix, cervical canal, and posterior fornix, exhibited no differences in alpha diversity. The microbiota profile of adenomyosis with endometriosis patients is different from control group through PCoA. Among the different disease groups, five microbiotas were distinctive in the genus level, and Atopobium presented with the greatest significance in adenomyoisis-endometriosis patients. The LeFSe analysis failed to identify the special biomarkers, while several characteristic functions were identified through PICRUSt. Conclusions: Lactobacillus is the predominant genus in the female lower genital tract, and Atopobium is higher in patients with endometriosis combined with adenomyosis. Several different functions of microbiota were explored, some of them are found to be associated with endometriosis or adenomyosis, other functions are needed to be further verified. These findings may provide a new concept of microbiota/immune system/endometriosis system.

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endometriosisadenomyosis

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