The importance of the genital tract microflora in the endometriosis development

In: Reproductive health of woman · 2023 · pp. 21–25 · doi:10.30841/2708-8731.2.2023.278155 · W4380989096
article OA: diamond CC0 ⤵ 2 in-corpus citations
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This review explores the differences in genital tract microflora composition between women with and without endometriosis, highlighting reduced *Lactobacillus* and altered microbial profiles as potential factors in its pathogenesis.

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This article is a narrative review of scientific publications examining how genital tract microflora may contribute to endometriosis pathophysiology, contrasting eubiosis versus dysbiosis and summarizing microbiome characteristics across lower (vagina, cervix) and upper (uterus, fallopian tubes) genital tract compartments as well as peritoneal fluid. It reports evidence that Lactobacillus is important for maintaining vaginal acidity and that women with endometriosis show differences in microbiota composition—especially reduced Lactobacillus abundance and greater microbial diversity—along with proposed mechanisms involving altered immune regulation and inflammatory processes. The review also discusses links between gut microbiota and endometriosis and cites studies attempting to distinguish disease stages using genital tract microbiota composition. It does not present new original data and, as a review, its conclusions depend on heterogeneity and limits of the included studies. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — focusing on how genital tract microflora and dysbiosis are implicated in endometriosis development.

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Abstract

Endometriosis is a common pathology among women of reproductive age. In the pathogenesis of its development a great importance is paid to the process of regulation of estrogens and other sex hormones, the implementation of the immune response at the general and local levels, the inflammatory response, and genetic background. In recent years, the role of the microbiota in different parts of the genital tract of the female organism has been studied not only from the standard approach of inflammatory diseases research of the reproductive organs and pathological vaginal discharge, but its contribution into the development of other gynecological diseases, in particular endometriosis, is presented.The article is devoted to a review of scientific publications about researches devoted to the significance of the genital tract microflora in the pathophysiology of endometriosis. The article presents the concepts of states of eubiosis and dysbiosis, describes the features of the microflora of the lower (vagina, cervix) and upper parts (uterus, fallopian tubes) of the genital tract in healthy women. The data on the importance of Lactobacillus in maintaining an optimal state of acidity in the vaginal environment are presented. The difference in the composition of the microbiota of the vagina, cervical mucus, uterine cavity and peritoneal fluid in women with and without endometriosis is revealed. The pathogenetic mechanisms of the role of the microbiota in the processes of endometriosis pathogenesis, namely, the regulation of the immune response and inflammation processes in this pathology, are described. It has been shown that in women with endometriosis there are differences in the microflora composition of the vagina, cervix, uterine cavity, peritoneal fluid, manifested by a decreased concentration of Lactobacillus and the presence of a variety of other microorganisms in relation to healthy women. The data about the role of gut microflora in patients with this pathology are also presented. The results of research about the diagnosis of various stages of endometriosis by studying the composition of the genital tract microbiota are described.
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Значення мікрофлори генітального тракту у розвитку ендометріозу Основний зміст сторінки статті Анотація Ендометріоз є поширеною патологією серед жінок репродуктивного віку. У патогенезі його розвитку важливе значення надається процесу регуляції естрогенів та інших статевих гормонів, реалізації імунної відповіді на загальному та локальному рівнях, запальній реакції, генетичному підґрунті. Останніми роками вивчається роль мікробіоти у різних відділах генітального тракту жіночого організму не тільки з позиції вивчення запальних захворювань репродуктивних органів та патологічних вагінальних виділень, але й виникнення та розвитку іншої гінекологічної патології, зокрема ендометріозу. Стаття присвячена огляду наукових публікацій про значення мікрофлори генітального тракту у патофізіології ендометріозу. У статті наведено поняття станів еубіозу та дисбіозу, описані особливості мікрофлори нижнього (піхва, шийка матки) та верхнього (матка, маткові труби) відділів генітального тракту у здорових жінок. Представлено дані важливості Lactobacillus у підтриманні оптимального стану кислотності у піхвовому середовищі. Детально розглянуті питання відмінності складу мікробіоти піхви, цервікального слизу, порожнини матки та перитонеальної рідини у жінок з та без ендометріозу. Наведено патогенетичні механізми ролі мікробіоти у процесах патогенезу ендометріозу, а саме – регуляції імунної відповіді та процесів запалення за даної патології. Зазначено, що у жінок з ендометріозом існують відмінності у складі мікрофлори піхви, шийки матки, порожнини матки, перитонеальної рідини, які проявляються зменшенням концентрації Lactobacillus та наявністю різноманіття інших мікроорганізмів щодо здорових жінок. Також представлено дані про роль мікрофлори кишечника у хворих із даною патологією. 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