Research report ‘Genetic factors of host glycogen metabolism and its relationship with the vaginal microbiome’

In this retrospective data analysis project we aim to answer the question whether single nucleotide polymorphisms in the TCF7L2 gene (rs7903146-T and rs7903146-T) associated with type 2 diabetes are linked with composition of the vaginal microbiome in a multi-ethnic cohort of premenopausal women. <b></b> We<b> </b>received data of 199 female participants of the HELIUS project and excluded 5 participants because of antibiotic use or diabetes status. The data consisted of vaginal microbiome (VMB) composition, genotypes for SNP rs7903146 and rs12255372, fasting blood glucose level, ethnicity, age and immigration status. We posted our research proposal online prior to data analysis.. We posted our research proposal online prior to data analysis. To answer the main research questions we classified the various VMB groups as either <i>Lactobacillus </i>dominant (<i>L.</i> <i>crispatus, L. iners </i>or other <i>Lactobacillus</i>)<i> </i>or low <i>Lactobacillus</i>. No difference was detected between the two vaginal microbiome groups and alleles at either SNP. Next we further specified <i>Lactobacillus</i>-dominant in either <i>Lactobacillus crispatus</i> or <i>Lactobacillus iners</i> and grouped all other VMB groups as ‘other’. Again, we saw no significant differences between <i>Lactobacillus </i>dominant microbiota and the type 2 diabetes risk alleles rs7903146-TT and rs12255732-TT. We conclude that there is no significant association between two known type 2 diabetes risk alleles and vaginal microbial composition.

本回顾性数据分析研究旨在解答如下科学问题：在绝经前女性多民族队列中，与2型糖尿病相关的TCF7L2基因单核苷酸多态性（single nucleotide polymorphism, SNP）rs7903146-T与rs7903146-T是否与阴道微生物组组成存在关联。我们获取了HELIUS研究中199名女性参与者的相关数据，并因抗生素使用史或糖尿病患病情况排除了5名参与者。本次研究所用数据涵盖阴道微生物组（vaginal microbiome, VMB）组成、SNP rs7903146与rs12255372的基因型、空腹血糖水平、种族、年龄及移民身份。我们在开展数据分析前已将研究方案上传至线上平台。为解答核心研究问题，我们将各类阴道微生物组群组划分为两类：乳杆菌（Lactobacillus）主导型（包括卷曲乳杆菌<L. crispatus>、惰性乳杆菌<L. iners>或其他乳杆菌）与乳杆菌低丰度型。未在两类阴道微生物组群组与任一SNP的等位基因间检测到差异。后续我们进一步将乳杆菌主导型细分为卷曲乳杆菌主导型与惰性乳杆菌主导型，并将其余所有阴道微生物组群组归类为"其他"类别。再次分析后，我们仍未观察到乳杆菌主导型菌群与2型糖尿病风险等位基因rs7903146-TT及rs12255732-TT之间存在显著差异。综上，本研究未发现两种已知2型糖尿病风险等位基因与阴道微生物组组成之间存在显著关联。