Preterm birth prevention – let’s get the bugs out
"Lactobacillus also has mutations that can produce a much less favorable mucin, and if you have those mutations you are much more prone to acquire sexually transmitted diseases and HIV infections."
The good news is that while antibiotics may not be the key to this puzzle, the microbiome can be modified. For example, a plant-based diet has been found to change the microbiota associated with inflammatory bowel disease.
It’s not clear yet if, or how, the cervicovaginal communities could be modulated to protect against preterm birth. But it is clear that the well-trod path of antibiotics just isn’t getting the results researchers, doctors, mothers, and babies need.
Neither Dr. Brabant nor Dr. Elovitz had any financial declarations.
*Correction, 2/7/2014: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the number of cervicovaginal samples.
