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Characterization of Vaginal Lactobacilli with Potential Probiotic Properties Isolated from Healthy Women in Northern Iran

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Abstract

Vaginal lactobacilli protect against bacterial vaginosis and vaginal candidiasis. They may have probiotic properties and help maintain the balance and health of the vaginal ecosystem while the loss of these bacteria predisposes females to urinary and genital infections. The aim of this study was to investigate the probiotic potential of vaginal Lactobacillus among healthy females in northern Iran. The Lactobacillus strains were isolated from vaginal samples and were identified by sequencing of the 16S rRNA fragment. Functional properties such as tolerance to low pH, H2O2 production, adherence ability to Hela cells and antagonistic activity against Candida albicans was examined. A total of 38 vaginal lactobacilli strains from five species, including Lactobacillus crispatus (n = 13), Lactobacillus gasseri (n = 10), Lactobacillus acidophilus (n = 6), Lactobacillus jensenii (n = 5) and Lactobacillus johnsonii (n = 4), were identified. All of the species showed significant tolerance to low pH over 24 h (p < 0.001). The best adherence ability to Hela cells was seen in Lactobacillus gasseri strains. Nearly 17 of the strains had higher anti-candida activity compared to the other strains. According to the findings, four lactobacilli strains isolated in the vaginal samples of healthy Iranian women had the best probiotic potential.

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Acknowledgements

Authors would like to thank staff of Amol Pasture Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Ayatollah Amoli Branch, Islamic Azad University, Amol, Iran

    Hakimeh Zare, Rabeeh Izadi Amoli, Fatemeh Zaboli & Hami Kaboosi

  2. Department of Paramedicine, Amol School of Paramedical Sciences, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

    Maysam Rezapour

Authors
  1. Hakimeh Zare
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  2. Rabeeh Izadi Amoli
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  3. Maysam Rezapour
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  4. Fatemeh Zaboli
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  5. Hami Kaboosi
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design and experiments. Material preparation, performed experiments, data collection and analysis were performed by HZ, RIA, MR, HK. The first draft of the manuscript was written by HZ. FZ Supervised, directed and managed the study. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Fatemeh Zaboli.

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The authors declare that there are no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Amol Azad University (ID: IR.IAU.AMOL.REC.1400.051). At the beginning, all study participants were given adequate information about the study. Then informed consent was obtained.

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The procedure was explained to all the recruited participate who signed written informed consent forms.

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Appendix

Appendix

See Table 5.

Table 5 The relationship between delivery types and Lactobacillus species frequencies for study sample
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Zare, H., Izadi Amoli, R., Rezapour, M. et al. Characterization of Vaginal Lactobacilli with Potential Probiotic Properties Isolated from Healthy Women in Northern Iran. Indian J Microbiol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12088-023-01186-2

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