USA: According to a recent study comparing cytokine profiles and microbiota before and after vaginal lubricant use and condomless vaginal sex, women who used lubricants had a decreased abundance of Lactobacillus crispatus species. Overall, there were only a few differences in the cytokine profiles and vaginal microbiota of lubricant users and controls before and after condomless vaginal sex.
The study appears in the journal BMC Infectious Diseases.
Limited studies have suggested that the use of personal lubricants may alter the vaginal microbiota, damage the vaginal mucosal epithelium, and increase inflammation. Rebecca M. Brotman from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA, and colleagues, therefore, aimed to compare vaginal cytokine profiles and microbiota before and after vaginal lubricant use and condomless vaginal sex in a 10-week observational cohort study.
For this purpose, the researchers recruited reproductive-age women who were asked to self-collect vaginal samples and behavioral diaries daily. This nested case-control analysis utilized samples collected before and after self-reported condomless sexual activity with lubricants (22 case participants) and without lubricants (22 control participants).
Microbiota composition was characterized by sequencing amplicons of the 16S rRNA gene V3–V4 regions. Cytokine concentrations were quantified using a magnetic bead 41-plex panel assay and read using a Bio-Plex 200 array reader. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to assess baseline differences in vaginal cytokines between cases and controls as well as differences pre-and post-exposure.
The mean age was 29.8 years, and 63.6% were African American.
Following were the findings from the study:
There were few statistically significant changes in cytokines or microbiota before and after exposure in cases or controls.
In mixed-effects modeling, the mean relative post-to-pre change of cytokines was higher in cases vs. controls for macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC).
The microbiota data revealed no significant changes when measured by similarity scores, diversity indexes, and descriptive community state types (CST) transition analyses.
Post sexual activity, the mean relative abundance of L. crispatus decreased for those who used lubricants (particularly those who were L. iners-dominated prior to exposure).
"Our findings showed that although there were overall few differences in the vaginal microbiota and cytokine profiles of lubricant users and controls before and after condomless vaginal sex, there was a trend toward decreases in the relative abundance of L. crispatus following use of lubricant," wrote the authors.
Future larger studies that take into account osmolarity and composition of lubricants may provide additional insights, they concluded.
Reference:
Tuddenham, S., Stennett, C.A., Cone, R.A. et al. Vaginal cytokine profile and microbiota before and after lubricant use compared with condomless vaginal sex: a preliminary observational study. BMC Infect Dis 21, 973 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-021-06512-x