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Role of Microbiome in Reproductive Health: An Expanding Dimension

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Role of Microbes in Sustainable Development

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Abstract

Trillions of symbiotic microorganisms have evolved with and continue to live on and within human beings, serving an important role in regulating human health and disease. Their omnipresence has a great influence on almost all the physiological functions of the body, and female reproductive system is no exception. As per the Human Microbiome Project, the vaginal microbiota alone makes up about 9% of the total human microbiota. Any internal or external change in this resident microbial population might lead to dysbiosis, further causing disease pathologies. This undesirable shift in microbiota is also strongly associated with stress and lifestyle imbalance, which are directly linked to poor dietary habits and a sedentary routine. Such unfavourable outcomes of vast urbanisation and industrialisation have increased the incidence of major health issues. One such medical condition is infertility, which is currently perceived as a worldwide health problem. Pathophysiological conditions concerning the reproductive system like endometriosis, dysregulated ovarian functions, cervical factors, uterine complications and vaginal infections also affect female fertility to a great extent. Given that these conditions are usually associated with microbial dysbiosis, modulating the microbial population to reinstate eubiosis can certainly alleviate disease symptoms, thereby helping with disease management strategies. Gut microbiota also actively interacts with sex hormones (a concept called microgenderome) to regulate the circulating level of the latter and thus affect reproductive health in various ways. Therefore, many microorganisms are now being examined for their potential and promising use in developing various treatment approaches, including probiotics, synbiotics, faecal microbiota transfer (FMT) and vaginal microbiota transfer (VMT). The rationale behind all these options lies in rehabilitating the progenitive niche with a healthy microbial population in order to maintain and regulate the female reproductive system homeostasis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Medical Biotechnology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, India

    Samridhi Pushkarna, Anil Kumar & Amita Suneja Dang

  2. Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, Bracknell Lighthouse Laboratory, Bracknell Healthspace, Bracknell, UK

    Richa Bhatnager

  3. Department of Microbiology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, India

    Pooja Suneja

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  1. Samridhi Pushkarna
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  2. Richa Bhatnager
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  3. Anil Kumar
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  4. Pooja Suneja
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  5. Amita Suneja Dang
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  1. INSA Senior Scientist and Professor Emeritus, Panjab University, Chandigarh, Chandigarh, India

    R.C. Sobti

  2. Former Vice Chancellor, Central University, Haryana, India

    Ramesh Chander Kuhad

  3. Professor Emeritus, University of Delhi, New Delhi, Delhi, India

    Rup Lal

  4. Department of Microbiology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, Chandigarh, India

    Parveen Rishi

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Pushkarna, S., Bhatnager, R., Kumar, A., Suneja, P., Dang, A.S. (2023). Role of Microbiome in Reproductive Health: An Expanding Dimension. In: Sobti, R., Kuhad, R.C., Lal, R., Rishi, P. (eds) Role of Microbes in Sustainable Development. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3126-2_16

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