Mother’s Cervicovaginal microbiota could be the key to prevent Spontaneous Preterm Births--News from SMFM 2017, Las Vegas.

Courtesy: CDC

More exciting news from the pregnancy meeting, SMFM 2017, Las Vegas. Researchers have identified that maternal cervicovaginal (CV) flora plays an important role in timing of delivery, it could increase or prevent the risk of Spontaneous Preterm Births (SPTB).  

The study abstract was presented on January 26,2017 at the meeting and won the March of Dimes award for best abstract on prematurity.

This was a nested study of a large project called as “Motherhood and the Microbiome” that was funded by National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). This is a large observational, prospective study of women with a term birth undergoing follow up for Preterm Births.

Dr. Elovitz, professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania, vice chair of Translational Research and Director of the Maternal and Child Health Research Center at PENN University and his colleagues worked on the hypothesis that preterm birth occurs because of some changes at molecular, anatomical and microbial level in the cervicovaginal space that are different in women who have a SPTB vs. women who deliver at term.

The study recruited about 1500 patients and collected cervicovaginal specimens at 3 time points throughout pregnancy. From this larger pool of participants, 80 cases with SPTB and 320 term controls were matched and analyzed. 16S rRNA gene analyses was used to identify bacterial specimens.

Additionally, in 616 patients single sample was collected to serve as validation.

Presence of Bifidobacterium species in the cervicovaginal space was highly protective for SPTB at all time while BV-associated bacteria (BVABs) and Mobiluncus were associated with statistically significant rise in SPTBs. (p<0.0001).

Edward R.B. McCabe, MD, PhD, senior vice president and chief medical officer of the March of Dimes said “From these data, we may learn how to prevent preterm birth either by eliminating the CV bacteria that are associated with an increased risk and/or by enhancing the presence of protective bacteria. This is a promising new area that should become a research priority.”