Analysis of vaginal and endometrial microbiome in infertile women

In addition to “traditional” culture techniques, next generation sequencing (NGS) is being applied to identify the broad spectrum of microbes on the vaginal and endometrial surfaces. In a healthy state, Lactobacilli dominate the vaginal flora and create a stable environment to prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STD). Bacterial vaginosis and chronic endometritis are associated with implantation failure, recurrent abortion and premature birth. In the future, NGS-based detection of the vaginal and/or endometrial microbiome should be applied to better identify pathogenic microbes in order to initiate specific treatment.