American scientists have reconstructed a vaginal microbiome in the laboratory, from living vaginal cells. This unique device aims to better understand and ensure better management of gynecological diseases, in particular bacterial vaginal infections.
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Reproducing a vagina with real human cells to test drugs: this is the ingenious solution developed by scientists from the Wyss Institute, attached to Harvard University. Made from tissue from vaginal cells from two donors, the artificial vagina is fitted with a silicone chip designed to mimic as closely as possible the reaction of a real vagina to medications given to treat vaginal infections such as yeast infections or bacterial vaginosis, which affect nearly 30% of women per year worldwide.
“Just as probiotics are now being prescribed to treat intestinal problems, live biotherapies are being studied for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis. However, it is difficult to conduct preclinical trials because the human vaginal microbiome is radically different from that of common animal models,” explain the researchers in a statement.
The tissue contained in the chip responds to many physiological characteristics of the vagina and the chip can be inoculated with different strains of bacteria to study their effects on the health of the organism. The different bacterial species introduced into the vagina model allowed scientists to observe opposing effects on human vaginal cells. This is particularly the case with Lactobacilli, bacteria that produce lactic acid and create an acidic environment inside the human vagina that protects it from infections. When another type of bacteria, associated with vaginal infections, was grown on the chip without Lactobacilli, inflammation increased and cells were rapidly damaged, the researchers explain. in the journal Microbiome.
“This study demonstrates the potential of applying human organ chip technology to create a preclinical model of the human vaginal mucosa that can be used to better understand the interactions between the vaginal microbiome and host tissues, as well as to assess the safety and efficacy of live biotherapeutic products,” the scientists conclude. “We hope that this new preclinical model will lead to the development of new treatments against the bacterial vaginosis and better understand the women’s reproductive health.»
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