G. vaginalis was present at least at one visit Belnacasan in vivo in 47% of women and A. vaginae in 20% of women. L. crispatus, L. iners, L. jensenii,

and L. gasseri were consistently present (minimum 4 out of 5 visits) in 60%, 67%, 63%, and 67% of women. We categorised the latter group of women, “women with consistent selleck chemicals llc Lactos”. We explored sexual preference; current sexual activity; presence of PSA; time in the menstrual cycle; and age as predictors for being a “women with consistent Lactos”. None of these factors were found to be associated with the consistent presence of lactobacilli. G. vaginalis was consistently present in 23% of women and A. vaginae in 7% of women. Risk factor analysis was not performed due to low numbers. Longitudinal analysis of the “women with consistent Lactos” showed that L. crispatus counts were 0.22 log higher (p < 0.001) and L. iners counts were 0.83 log lower (p < 0.001) in the post-ovulatory phase of the cycle. Furthermore, L. crispatus counts this website were decreased by 0.42 log after intercourse (PSA present) (p = 0.002), while those of L. iners (+0.73 log, p = 0.033) and of L. gasseri (+0.59 log, p = 0.058) were increased. Figure 1 Presence of species by day in the menstrual cycle. cps/mL: copies/mL. Two women developed intermediate Nugent scores at visit 4 (6 and 4), while their scores at the

other visits were 0. The bacterial cell counts by visit for these two women are shown in Figure 2. In both of these women, the increase in Nugent score coincided with an increase in L. iners counts. In the first woman, in whom G. vaginalis was present throughout Rucaparib datasheet the study, A. vaginae appeared on the same day as the raised Nugent score. This woman complained of a vaginal itch and dysuria, had a white watery discharge on examination, and a raised pH of 6.1. In the second woman, G. vaginalis appeared together with the elevated Nugent score, while A. vaginae remained absent. This woman had a positive PSA test and also had a new sexual partner since the previous visit. Figure

2 Presence of species by day in the menstrual cycle for two women developing an elevated Nugent score. cps/mL: copies/mL. The vaginal microbiome of the healthy women and the women at risk of STIs The Lactobacillusspecies were present at baseline in all women. The frequencies of the presence of individual microbiome species are summarized in Table 3, which also presents a pairwise comparison between the HP, the CP without BV (CPBVneg), and the CP with BV (CPBVpos). L. crispatus and L. vaginalis were significantly more present in HP women and CPBVneg women compared to the CPBVpos women. L. gasseri was more often present in HP women compared to the CPBVneg women (p = 0.004), but the differences within the CP were not significant. L. iners was less frequently present in the HP compared to the other 2 groups but this was not statistically significant. G.