Differences in vaginal microbiota, host transcriptome and proteins in women with bacterial vaginosis are associated with metronidazole treatment response

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) treatment failures or recurrences are common. To identify features associated with treatment response, we compared vaginal microbiota and host ectocervical transcriptome before and after oral metronidazole therapy. Response to metronidazole is characterized by significant changes in chemokines and related transcripts suggesting that strategies to promote these pathways may prove beneficial. Women (Bronx, NY (n=20) and Thika, Kenya (n=17)) with BV underwent genital tract sampling of transcriptome (RNAseq) at enrollment (Visit 1) and one month (Visit 3) after completing 7 days of oral metronidazole.