Vaginal colonization of women after oral administration of Lactobacillus crispatus strain NTCVAG04 from the human microbiota.

Background: The genomic approach has deeply changed the microbiology perspective, mainly concerning the microbioma identification. In this regard, some microbes colonize the healthy vagina. Vaginitis is a common gynecological ailment and includes bacterial vaginosis (BV), usually caused by local dysbiosis, such as a microbiota imbalance. Lactobacilli are the most prevalent bacteria colonizing the healthy vagina, so guaranteeing local eubiosis. In particular, vaginal colonization by L. crispatus is associated with low susceptibility to BV. Therefore, probiotics, such as life bacteria providing health advantages, are a current strategy in the prevention or treatment of vaginitis, including BV. However, there is a low level of evidence that probiotics after ingestion could really colonize the vagina. In particular, no study evidenced that L. crispatus after ingestion can colonize vagina. Therefore, the current study explored the capacity of Biovaginil^® (NTC, Milan, Italy) dietary supplement containing Lactobacillus crispatus NTCVAG04 and vitamin A to colonize the gut and vagina in women with a history of vaginitis/vaginosis.

Methods: Twenty fertile females (mean age 34.0 years) were enrolled in the study. Rectal and vaginal swabs were collected at baseline and after the first and second cycle of Biovaginil^®. Each cycle lasted 14 days within two consecutive menstrual periods.

Results: Seven women were excluded from the analysis because the samples were technically not evaluable. One woman dropped out because of mild adverse event. At the end of the study, nine women (75%) had positive rectal swab for L. crispatus NTCVAG04, and 8 of them also had positive vaginal swab.

Conclusions: The current study provided the first evidence that L. crispatus NTCVAG04, administered by two Biovaginil^® courses, colonized both the gut and vagina. Moreover, the L. crispatus NTCVAG04 strain could be considered the archetype of a new class of oral probiotics that actively colonize the vagina, and that could be called "colpobiotics."