Assessment of <i>In Vitro</i> and <i>In Silico</i> Protocols for Sequence-Based Characterization of the Human Vaginal Microbiome
Luisa W. Hugerth, Marcela Pereira, Yinghua Zha, Maike Seifert, Vilde Kaldhusdal, Fredrik Boulund, Maria Christine Krog, Zahra Bashir, Marica Hamsten, Emma Fransson, Henriette Svarre Nielsen, Ina Schuppe‐Koistinen, Lars Engstrand
Abstract
The vaginal microbiome has been connected to various aspects of host health, including susceptibility to sexually transmitted infections as well as gynecological cancers and pregnancy outcomes. This has led to a thriving research environment but also to conflicting available methodologies, including many studies that do not report their molecular biological and bioinformatic methods in sufficient detail to be considered reproducible. This can lead to conflicting messages and delay progress from descriptive to intervention studies. By systematically assessing best practices for the characterization of the human vaginal microbiome, this study will enable past studies to be assessed more critically and assist future studies in the selection of appropriate methods for their specific research questions.