Postmenopausal Women With Vaginal Microbiota

Overview

Since other genital infections enhance HIV susceptibility by inducing inflammation, the investigators study the relationship between the vaginal microbiota composition and the risk of HPV infection, cervical cytological abnormalities in postmenopausal women.

Persistent infection with oncogenic Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is necessary but not sufficient for the development of cervical cancer. Additional factors correlated with HPV persistence include immunodeficiency caused by HIV, smoking, use of oral contraceptives and, more recently reported, vaginal dysbiosis. In a state of dysbiosis, there is a marked reduction of Lactobacillus and a high diversity of bacteria, with increased abundance of anaerobic bacterial species. Owing to the decrease of estrogen level and cervical atrophy in postmenopausal women, cervical cytology is more prone to abnormal changes than in premenopausal women. Clinically, cervical lesions in elderly women are easily neglected. Therefore, cervical cancer in the elderly is usually found in advanced stage, with poor prognosis and more complications of treatment. Based on this, the investigators are going to analyze the changes of microbiota in women with high-risk HPV and the cervical lesions in menopausal women. And the investigators hope to figure out the difference and change in microbiota to realize the tanning of cervical lesions.

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