Using an in-vitro biofilm model to assess the virulence potential of Bacterial Vaginosis or non-Bacterial Vaginosis Gardnerella vaginalis isolates

Authors

Joana Castro, University of Minho, University of Porto
Patricia Alves, University of Minho
Cármen Sousa, University of Minho
Tatiana Cereija, University of Minho
Ângela França, University of Minho
Kimberly K. Jefferson, Virginia Commonwealth University
Nuno Cerca, University of Minho

Document Type

Article

Original Publication Date

2015

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Scientific Reports

Volume

5

DOI of Original Publication

10.1038/srep11640

Comments

Originally published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep11640

Date of Submission

December 2015

Abstract

Gardnerella vaginalis is the most common species found in bacterial vaginosis (BV). However, it is also present in a significant proportion of healthy women and G. vaginalis vaginal colonization does not always lead to BV. In an effort to better understand the differences between G. vaginalis isolated from women with a positive (BV) versus a negative (non-BV) diagnosis of BV, we compared the virulence potential of 7 BV and 7 non-BV G. vaginalis isolates and assessed the virulence factors related to biofilm formation, namely: initial adhesion and cytotoxic effect, biofilm accumulation, susceptibility to antibiotics, and transcript levels of the known vaginolysin, and sialidase genes. Furthermore, we also determined the ability of G. vaginalis to displace lactobacilli previously adhered to HeLa cells. Our results showed that non-BV strains were less virulent than BV strains, as suggested by the lower cytotoxicity and initial adhesion to Hela cells. Significant differences in expression of known virulence genes were also detected, further suggesting a higher virulence potential of the BV associated G. vaginalis. Importantly, we demonstrated that BV associated G. vaginaliswere able to displace pre-coated vaginal protective lactobacilli and we hypothesize this to be a trigger for BV development.

Rights

Copyright © 2015, Macmillan Publishers Limited This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Is Part Of

VCU Medical Center Publications