What question did this study set out to answer?

This study aims to assess the effects of a postbiotic intervention on microbial balance and pregnancy rates in infertile women.

May 7, 2026Open Access

Targeted Vaginal Microbiome Modulation by Postbiotic Intervention Reduces Dysbiosis-Associated Pathogens in Infertile Women: A Pilot Study

Key Points

This study aims to assess the effects of a postbiotic intervention on microbial balance and pregnancy rates in infertile women.
Pilot study involving 15 infertile women with 2 prior IVF failures receiving 8 weeks of postbiotic therapy.
Vaginal samples collected pre- and post-treatment analyzed by full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing.
Evaluated microbiome composition, beta-diversity, and pathogen load.
Achieved clinical pregnancy rate of 46.7% (7/15) after postbiotic intervention.
73% of participants showed favorable microbiome restructuring with emergence of Lactobacillus-dominant communities.
Significant reduction in dysbiosis-associated pathogens, including Prevotella (p<0.01) and Pseudomonas (p<0.05).

Abstract

Background: Vaginal dysbiosis characterized by depleted Lactobacillus populations is associated with impaired fertility outcomes in women undergoing assisted reproduction.Postbiotic interventions delivering antimicrobial peptides without live bacteria may offer targeted microecological modulation while preserving community stability.We investigated the microbial and clinical effects of an eight-week antimicrobial peptide-based postbiotic in infertile women.Methods: Fifteen infertile women (mean age 38.7 4.1 years) with 2 prior in vitro fertilization failures received intravaginal postbiotic therapy (VAGINNE , Good-Care Biotech, Ltd.) for 8.0 0.3 weeks before frozen embryo transfer (FET).Paired vaginal samples collected pre-and post-treatment underwent full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing using PacBio Sequel platform.Microbiome composition, beta-diversity, differential abundance, and absolute bacterial load were analyzed. Results:The cohort achieved a clinical pregnancy rate of 46.7% (7/15) following postbiotic intervention and subsequent FET.Beta-diversity analysis revealed preservation of global community structure (PERMANOVA R=0.05, p=0.65), indicating ecological stability.Despite cohort-level stability, patient-specific analysis identified favorable microbiome restructuring in 73% of participants (11/15), including emergence of Lactobacillus-dominant communities in previously dysbiotic profiles.Absolute abundance quantification demonstrated selective elimination of dysbiosis-associated pathogens: Prevotella decreased from 408.47990.78 to 0.290.83cells/sample (p<0.01),Pseudomonas from 419.07567.04 to 89.14114.42(p<0.05), and complete clearance of Howardella (3.539.87 to undetectable).Conversely, Gluconacetobacter increased significantly from undetectable to 2.934.18cells/sample (p<0.05).Conclusions: In this pilot cohort, antimicrobial peptide-based postbiotic therapy was associated with encouraging pregnancy outcomes and targeted pathogen clearance.The intervention selectively reduced high-burden detrimental taxa while maintaining microbiome architectural integrity, supporting precision microecological modulation as a promising adjuvant strategy for reproductive health.

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Cite This Study

Lin et al. (Thu,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69fc2b158b49bacb8b34770e https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.7150/ijms.130288

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