Previse preterm birth in early pregnancy through vaginal microbiome signatures using metagenomics and dipstick assays

The vagina of reproductive-age women houses one of the least diverse microbiomes in the human body, mostly dominated by Lactobacillus species. The composition and diversity of the vaginal microbiome have a notable racial inequality. The vaginal microbiome has been grouped into five community state types (CSTs) based on the abundance of bacterial taxa.This is a case control study of the GARBH-Ini (Interdisciplinary Group for Advanced Research on Birth Outcomes - A DBT India Initiative) pregnancy cohort. For understanding vaginal microbiome differences between adverse and normal pregnancy, swabs from high vaginal site were collected in three different trimesters and used for microbiome study and to further develop a rapid point of care diagnostic dipstick assay. The current findings have unique translational potential for early identification of risk for PTB delivery based on the composition of the vaginal microbiota. The findings can also aid in reducing the PTB by modulating composition of the vaginal microbiome either by microbiome transplantation or delivering term-birth associated Lactobacillus taxa in the vaginal milieu.