Adherence of Human Vaginal Lactobacilli to Vaginal Epithelial Cells and Interaction with Uropathogens

Abstract

ABSTRACT Three strains of Lactobacillus , identified as Lactobacillus acidophilus , Lactobacillus gasseri , and Lactobacillus jensenii , were selected from among 70 isolates from the vaginas of healthy premenopausal women for properties relevant to mucosal colonization or antagonism. All three self-aggregated and adhered to epithelial vaginal cells, displacing well-known vaginal pathogens, such as G. vaginalis , and inhibiting the growth in vitro of Escherichia coli and Streptococcus agalactiae . The surface components involved in self-aggregation appeared to be proteins for L. gasseri and lipoproteins for L. acidophilus and L. jensenii , as judged by susceptibility to treatment with appropriate degrading enzymes. The factors responsible for adherence to epithelial vaginal cells seemed to be glycoproteins ( L. acidophilus and L. gasseri ) and carbohydrate ( L. jensenii ). The receptors of the vaginal cells were glycolipids, which presumably were the targets of the competition observed between the lactobacilli and the pathogenic microbes.