Divine Aleru, Microbiome Signatures Research Coordinator

This study evaluates the therapeutic potential of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for treating female reproductive tract diseases, including PCOS, by restoring microbiota balance.

This systematic review links heavy metal exposure and trace element deficiencies to oxidative stress, inflammation, and hormonal imbalance in PCOS, with implications for metabolic dysfunction and gut microbiome disruption.

This study links elevated arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury levels to oxidative stress and low antioxidant defenses in PCOS patients, highlighting heavy metal toxicity as a key contributor to endocrine dysfunction and microbiome imbalance.

This case–control study links high copper and low molybdenum levels to metabolic, hormonal, and inflammatory changes in PCOS. Dietary habits influenced these levels, suggesting potential for targeted nutritional interventions.

This study found that women with PCOS had elevated cadmium, antimony, lead, and mercury levels, alongside reduced zinc and copper. These imbalances correlated with insulin resistance, oxidative stress, and inflammation, suggesting that metal exposure contributes to PCOS pathogenesis and potentially alters the gut microbiome.

This study revealed elevated serum copper and zinc, and reduced manganese and lead, in women with PCOS, suggesting trace element dysregulation may fuel oxidative stress and hormonal imbalance. These imbalances may also impact gut microbiota and insulin resistance.

This study shows women with PCOS have elevated blood lead and cadmium and reduced magnesium, calcium, and manganese—disrupting hormone levels through oxidative stress and possibly altering gut microbiota.

This meta-analysis confirms that serum copper levels are significantly elevated in women with PCOS. Copper may drive hormonal imbalance and oxidative stress, and could influence gut microbiota, highlighting its potential as a biomarker and therapeutic target in PCOS management.

This study identified elevated erythrocyte nickel in obese women with PCOS and revealed trace element–hormone correlations linked to reproductive dysfunction. These findings point to micronutrient-driven endocrine disruption and potential gut microbiota imbalances in PCOS.

What was studied?This clinical study investigated the serum levels of essential macro- and microelements, specifically magnesium, copper, manganese, nickel, zinc, chromium, selenium, and vanadium, in women diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), both with and without concurrent pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). The primary goal was to determine whether the concentrations of these elements differed in […]

This 5-year study found significantly higher serum copper levels in women with PCOS, correlating with triglycerides and BMI but not IVF outcomes. Copper may reflect metabolic dysfunction and gut-related oxidative stress in PCOS.

This review connects gut and vaginal microbiome dysbiosis with PCOS-related inflammation, metabolic imbalance, and hormone disruption, highlighting bile acids and SCFAs as key mediators and therapeutic targets.

This study reveals elevated primary and conjugated bile acids in follicular fluid of PCOS patients, suggesting a novel ovarian micro-environmental role in ovulation dysfunction and potential links to gut microbiota.

This study identified significant bile acid profile changes in PCOS patients and highlighted CDCA and LCA as promising biomarkers, especially when combined with testosterone. The results suggest a bile acid–androgen–microbiome axis in PCOS pathophysiology.

This study links the gut microbiome in PCOS to metabolic traits, identifying microbial shifts tied to insulin resistance and prediabetes. Specific taxa like Ruminococcaceae UCG-002 and Dorea correlate with hormonal and glucose metabolism markers, highlighting the gut microbiome’s role in PCOS-related metabolic health.

This study links elevated conjugated primary bile acids to hyperandrogenism in PCOS, suggesting bile acid metabolism plays a direct role in endocrine dysfunction and opens new therapeutic perspectives for managing PCOS.

This study identifies a strong link between gut microbiota dysbiosis and altered serum metabolites in PCOS patients. Specific microbial shifts, including elevated Escherichia-Shigella and reduced Roseburia, correlate with lipid and energy metabolism markers, offering insights into PCOS-related insulin resistance and mood disturbances.

A high-fiber diet combined with acarbose improved hormonal, metabolic, and inflammatory markers in women with PCOS by remodeling the gut microbiota. Key microbial shifts included increases in Bifidobacterium and reductions in Bacteroides vulgatus, correlating with decreased insulin resistance and hyperandrogenism.

This meta-analysis confirms that women with PCOS consume significantly less dietary fiber than controls, independent of calorie intake. Reduced fiber may worsen PCOS via gut dysbiosis and diminished SCFA production.

This review highlights how probiotic and synbiotic supplementation improves insulin resistance, inflammation, and androgen levels in obese adolescents with PCOS. Microbiome modulation offers a promising non-pharmacological therapy.

What was studied?This randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial investigated the effects of co-supplementation with vitamin D and probiotics on mental health, hormonal profiles, inflammatory markers, and oxidative stress in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The study tested whether the combination of these two interventions could provide synergistic benefits in a population known to have […]

Women with PCOS had lower Mediterranean diet adherence and worse metabolic, inflammatory, and hormonal profiles. Poor MD adherence correlated with higher testosterone, CRP, and HOMA-IR, suggesting a microbiome-linked dietary influence on PCOS severity.

A ketogenic diet restored menstrual cycles and improved pregnancy rates in obese women with PCOS, even without metformin or ovulation induction. Findings suggest KD enhances fertility through metabolic and microbiome-linked pathways beyond weight loss.

A Mediterranean/low-carb diet significantly improved insulin resistance, androgen levels, and weight in overweight PCOS patients. The findings suggest microbiome-mediated metabolic benefits and support clinical adoption of this dietary model over traditional low-fat diets.

What was reviewed?This overview synthesized evidence from eight systematic reviews and meta-analyses investigating the effects of probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics on the management of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). The reviews collectively evaluated randomized controlled trials (RCTs) focusing on metabolic, hormonal, and inflammatory markers to clarify how microbiota-modulating interventions influence PCOS-related outcomes. The analysis spanned data […]

A 24-week ketogenic diet significantly reduced insulin resistance, free testosterone, and LH/FSH ratio in women with PCOS, improving fertility markers. The dietary intervention may influence gut microbiota, enhancing metabolic and hormonal outcomes.

This study reveals that low fiber and magnesium intake—not overeating or inactivity—contribute significantly to insulin resistance and hyperandrogenism in PCOS, with strong implications for microbiome-linked interventions.

The study explores how alterations in gut bacteria, fungi, and serum metabolites are linked to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), revealing potential diagnostic markers and the role of hyperandrogenemia in disease development.

This study reveals significant dysbiosis of gut microbiota in women with PCOS, particularly in obese individuals. The altered microbial composition correlates with metabolic and hormonal imbalances, offering potential therapeutic targets for improving PCOS-related conditions.

This study explores the gut microbiota in women with PCOS and dyslipidemia, revealing significant microbial imbalances associated with lipid metabolism and hormonal dysregulation, offering potential targets for future therapies.

This study shows that gut microbiota dysbiosis in PCOS correlates with altered serum metabolites, including elevated LPCs and reduced citric acid. Roseburia and Prevotella_9 were linked to protective metabolic profiles, while Escherichia-Shigella was associated with inflammation and lipid imbalance.

This study demonstrates that gut dysbiosis in PCOS is not just correlative but causative. FMT and Lactobacillus transplantation restored hormonal balance and ovarian morphology in PCOS rats, confirming gut microbiota as a viable therapeutic target.

This study reveals disrupted diurnal rhythms and significant dysbiosis in the salivary microbiota of PCOS patients, notably elevated Fusobacterium and reduced Actinobacteria. These oral microbial patterns may influence systemic metabolic and hormonal dysregulation.

This study reveals that women with PCOS have altered gut fungal communities, marked by enriched Saccharomyces and depleted Aspergillus. These shifts may contribute to inflammation, metabolic stress, and endocrine disruption, highlighting fungi as critical players in PCOS pathophysiology.

This review links PCOS to gut microbiota dysbiosis, showing how LPS leakage, SCFA deficiency, and altered bile acids contribute to insulin resistance and hyperandrogenism. Microbiome-based therapies, including probiotics, prebiotics, and IL-22, show strong promise.

This review presents PCOS as a multisystem disorder driven by gut dysbiosis, neuroendocrine disruption, and adipose androgen synthesis. Targeting B. vulgatus, IL-22, and AKR1C3 may offer novel interventions.

This review connects gut microbiota dysbiosis to insulin resistance and hyperandrogenism in PCOS, identifying reduced SCFA producers and increased LPS-producing microbes as key signatures. It supports microbiota-targeted therapies as promising treatments for metabolic and reproductive symptoms in PCOS.

This review introduces the DOGMA theory linking gut dysbiosis and leaky gut to insulin resistance, inflammation, and hyperandrogenism in PCOS. It outlines a compelling rationale for microbiome-targeted therapies using prebiotics and probiotics.

This review links dysbiosis of gut and vaginal microbiota to PCOS pathogenesis, highlighting reduced Lactobacillus, elevated Bacteroides, and hormonal imbalance. It supports microbiome-targeted therapies like FMT and probiotics as promising interventions, emphasizing the role of microbiota in regulating hormones, immunity, and metabolic function.

This Mendelian randomization study identifies a bidirectional causal link between specific gut microbes and PCOS. Bacilli and Burkholderiales increase PCOS risk, while Blautia and Cyanobacteria show protective effects. Findings reveal gut microbial signatures that may be targeted for PCOS treatment.

This study shows reduced gut microbiota diversity and increased GABA-producing bacteria in PCOS, linking microbial shifts to elevated LH levels and supporting a gut–brain axis mechanism. The findings highlight microbial contributions to neuroendocrine dysfunction and suggest therapeutic avenues through microbiome-targeted interventions.

This review explores insulin resistance as a primary driver of PCOS, detailing molecular signaling defects and their clinical consequences. It provides critical insight into how hyperinsulinemia fuels both metabolic dysfunction and androgen excess, reinforcing PCOS as a systemic endocrine-metabolic disorder, with implications for microbiome-linked disease signatures.

This review links gut microbiota disruption to the development and symptoms of PCOS, including insulin resistance and hyperandrogenism. It highlights microbiota-targeted therapies—like probiotics, prebiotics, and traditional medicine—as promising options to improve PCOS outcomes and repositions the gut microbiome as a central factor in understanding and treating the disorder.

OverviewMetronidazole is a synthetic nitroimidazole antimicrobial agent classified as a pharmaceutical antibiotic, widely used to treat anaerobic bacterial and protozoal infections. Its therapeutic application spans a range of systemic and localized conditions, including bacterial vaginosis, gastrointestinal infections, and surgical prophylaxis.[1][2][3] Due to its ability to selectively target anaerobic organisms and protozoa, metronidazole has become a […]

This study found a significant association between metronidazole use and neurologic toxicity, including encephalopathy and peripheral neuropathy, especially in older adults. Even low doses of metronidazole were linked to an increased risk of adverse events, emphasizing the need for careful monitoring and alternative therapies for high-risk patients.

This study uncovers complex mechanisms of metronidazole resistance in C. difficile, highlighting key genetic mutations and iron-dependent metabolic shifts that reduce drug efficacy. These findings inform future therapeutic strategies to address C. difficile infections.

This meta-analysis confirms that regional resistance patterns heavily influence H. pylori eradication success. In areas with low metronidazole and high clarithromycin resistance, PAM significantly outperforms PAC. These findings support microbiome-informed, resistance-guided therapy selection.

This large study confirms that prior metronidazole exposure significantly reduces H. pylori eradication rates with BQT. Extending treatment to 14 days restores effectiveness. The findings highlight the microbiome-relevant impact of antibiotic history and support individualized treatment planning.

This review established metronidazole as the standard treatment for giardiasis, highlighting its microbial mechanism, resistance patterns, and microbiome-disruptive potential. The authors call for individualized, microbiome-aware therapy that balances efficacy with host-microbial homeostasis.

This clinical trial found that metronidazole significantly reduced inflammation—especially ESR and IL-6 levels—in COVID-19 pneumonia. The results support its immunomodulatory effects beyond infection control and encourage its careful use as a microbiome-sensitive anti-inflammatory agent.

This study demonstrated that metronidazole reduces inflammation and pro-inflammatory cytokines in a murine model, suggesting its anti-inflammatory properties are independent of antimicrobial action. These findings highlight its potential in microbiome-modulating therapies for non-infectious inflammation.

This study shows metronidazole significantly reduces inflammation and blood loss in NSAID enteropathy. It likely acts by targeting anaerobic microbes that drive neutrophil-mediated damage, offering a microbiome-relevant intervention for small intestinal injury.

This review dissected the metabolism, cytotoxic intermediates, and resistance mechanisms of metronidazole. It confirmed its microbial dependence for activation, its broad microbiome-disruptive potential, and the emerging resistance pathways beyond nim genes—emphasizing a shift toward targeted, microbiome-sparing alternatives in clinical practice.

This review confirms metronidazole’s high efficacy in treating GI protozoal infections while raising microbiome and resistance concerns. Its targeted use remains standard in acute infections, but clinicians should monitor duration and microbial consequences to reduce long-term harm and support stewardship.

This review explores metronidazole’s clinical efficacy, safety concerns, and microbiome impact. It confirms its value in treating anaerobic infections but highlights potential neurotoxic and genotoxic risks. The review calls for more human studies and microbiome-focused evaluations to guide safer, more targeted antimicrobial use.

This randomized trial showed oral metronidazole matched IV administration in preventing infections after open appendectomy for nonperforated appendicitis, suggesting a cost-effective and microbiome-conscious alternative.

Lactoferrin (LF) is a naturally occurring iron-binding glycoprotein classified as a postbiotic with immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, and prebiotic-like properties.

This review outlines lactoferrin’s selective antimicrobial and prebiotic effects, showing how it inhibits pathogens while promoting specific probiotic strains through iron sequestration, metabolic modulation, and glycan delivery.

Lactoferrin supports vaginal microbiome balance by inhibiting pathogens and enhancing Lactobacillus colonization, with immunomodulatory effects.

Lactoferrin effectively inhibits Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens via iron sequestration and membrane disruption, with microbiome-preserving potential.

This 22-year review maps lactoferrin’s antibacterial research, highlighting its pathogen-specific inhibition, microbiome support, and clinical promise.

Lactoferrin blocks viral entry, activates immune responses, and reduces the severity of common infections, making it a promising preventive tool.

This review found oral lactoferrin to be safe and potentially beneficial in viral infections, but clinical outcomes remain inconsistent.

Lactoferrin and its peptides block pathogen virulence, reduce toxin production, and disrupt biofilms, offering a microbiome-safe antimicrobial strategy.

Lactoferrin prevents viral entry by binding to host cell receptors and viral particles, reducing apoptosis and inflammation while preserving microbiome stability.

What was reviewed?This review examined the antifungal properties of lactoferrin (Lf) and its derived peptides, especially lactoferricin, lactoferrampin, and Lf(1–11), highlighting their mechanisms of action and potential for synergistic use with antifungal drugs. The paper consolidated findings from multiple in vitro and some in vivo studies to explain how these molecules exert direct antifungal activity, […]

This study shows lactoferrin is broadly antifungal against yeasts and synergizes potently with amphotericin B, even in resistant strains. It disrupts fungal virulence and reduces drug burden, highlighting its therapeutic potential.

This review explores lactoferrin’s anti-nociceptive potential through key neuroimmune pathways and highlights its utility as an adjunct to opioids. Its mechanistic effects on TRAF6–NFκB, NO–cGMP, and opioid receptors support its role in microbiome-relevant pain modulation.

This review highlights lactoferrin’s role as a dual-function immune modulator in microbial infections. It influences inflammation, supports microbiome balance, and enhances barrier integrity, with applications ranging from gut sepsis to respiratory infections and inflammatory diseases.

This review outlines lactoferrin’s dual function in modulating energy metabolism, including glucose control, lipid regulation, and microbiome interaction, positioning it as a safe, multifunctional nutraceutical for managing metabolic disorders.

This review highlights lactoferrin’s potent role in regulating iron metabolism in cancer, reducing oxidative stress, and restoring gut microbiota balance—making it a promising adjunct in oncologic care, especially in managing cancer-related anemia and inflammation.

This review outlines lactoferrin’s potent antioxidant, iron-regulating, and neuroprotective effects across systems. It underscores its therapeutic potential in oxidative stress-related diseases and its modulatory role in microbiome dynamics and host immunity.

This review details how lactoferrin modulates inflammation, recruits immune cells, and bridges innate and adaptive responses—supporting its role as a microbiome-relevant therapeutic agent.

This review highlights lactoferrin’s prebiotic, antimicrobial, and immunomodulatory roles in gut health, showcasing its potential as a therapeutic adjunct for microbiome-targeted interventions, especially in conditions involving dysbiosis and inflammation.

This review highlights lactoferrin’s immunomodulatory role in shaping innate and adaptive responses, with significant implications for neonatal health, microbial defense, and inflammation control. It underlines lactoferrin’s microbiome relevance and clinical potential as a natural immune support agent.

Lactoferrin is a key immunomodulatory glycoprotein that bridges innate and adaptive immunity. It regulates oxidative stress, curbs inflammation, and supports mucosal immune integrity, showing promise for microbiome-focused interventions in infections, SIRS, and immune dysfunction.

This review highlights lactoferrin’s role as a biomarker for IBD, AD, and DED, and evaluates current detection technologies. It emphasizes LF’s dual function in host defense and microbiome support.

This review explores lactoferrin’s multifaceted biological roles, emphasizing its ability to shape the microbiome, support immunity, and suppress inflammation and tumors.

This review explores lactoferrin’s biological roles, from microbiome modulation and immune defense to chronic disease and cancer prevention, supporting its use as a multifunctional therapeutic.

This review explores lactoferrin’s protective, antimicrobial, and immunomodulatory roles across life stages, highlighting its impact on the gut microbiome, disease prevention, and aging-related health.

Prebiotic Maltose Gel has emerged as a promising microbiome-targeted therapy for bacterial vaginosis (BV), restoring vaginal health by selectively enhancing Lactobacillus populations and suppressing BV-associated anaerobes. This dual-action intervention not only validates the gel’s therapeutic efficacy but also confirms the accuracy of BV’s microbiome signature as a clinical marker.

Probiotic interventions, particularly those involving Lactobacillus crispatus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, restore balance to the vaginal microbiome in bacterial vaginosis (BV). By reducing dominant anaerobes like Gardnerella vaginalis and promoting recolonization with protective Lactobacillus, these therapies validate both their role as microbiome-targeted interventions (MBTIs) and the diagnostic accuracy of the BV microbiome signature.

Essential oils (EOs) are emerging as powerful microbiome-targeted interventions for biofilm-associated infections (BAIs). Backed by preclinical evidence, EOs disrupt biofilm formation, reduce inflammation, and restore microbial balance. This validation supports their dual role in treating BAIs and confirming the microbiome signature linked to the condition.

Bovine lactoferrin has emerged as a promising microbiome-targeted intervention (MBTI) for bacterial vaginosis (BV). Clinical and preclinical studies confirm its dual-action ability to restore Lactobacillus dominance and suppress BV-associated pathogens like Gardnerella and Prevotella. These microbial shifts, combined with anti-inflammatory effects, validate both the efficacy of bovine lactoferrin and the diagnostic accuracy of the BV microbiome signature.

Vitamin C vaginal tablets represent a compelling microbiome-based therapy for recurrent bacterial vaginosis. By restoring vaginal pH and supporting Lactobacillus reestablishment, this intervention validates both its therapeutic role and the microbial signature of BV.

Tinidazole is a validated microbiome-targeted therapy for bacterial vaginosis, restoring microbial balance and aligning with diagnostic signatures. It offers better tolerability than metronidazole, with fewer side effects and strong clinical outcomes.

Secnidazole demonstrates dual efficacy in treating bacterial vaginosis by targeting pathogenic anaerobes while preserving beneficial Lactobacillus, validating both its role as a microbiome-based therapeutic intervention (MBTI) and the accuracy of BV’s microbial signature in guiding effective treatment.

This study confirms secnidazole’s efficacy and safety as a one-dose treatment for BV, improving outcomes while supporting microbiome restoration.

Clindamycin is effective in treating bacterial vaginosis by reducing Gardnerella vaginalis and promoting Lactobacillus growth, but recurrence rates highlight the need for adjunct therapies targeting biofilms.

Metronidazole addresses microbial imbalances in bacterial vaginosis by reducing Gardnerella vaginalis and promoting Lactobacillus growth, but biofilm-related resistance may contribute to high recurrence rates. Adjunct therapies are needed for long-term success.

Boric acid restores microbial balance in the vagina by increasing Lactobacillus and reducing harmful species, making it an effective treatment for recurrent BV and VVC.

This study explores the impact of prebiotic maltose gel on the vaginal microbiota of rhesus macaques, showing its potential to shift microbial balance from BV-related bacteria to Lactobacillus dominance, presenting an alternative to antibiotic treatments for bacterial vaginosis.

Boric acid offers promising results for treating resistant vulvovaginal candidiasis, bacterial vaginosis, and trichomoniasis. It shows comparable efficacy to oral itraconazole, with fewer adverse events.

This study assesses the impact of metronidazole on the vaginal microbiota, revealing that high G. vaginalis and pathobionts correlate with treatment failure, suggesting a need for biofilm-disrupting therapies in some BV patients.

This review discusses bacterial vaginosis, biofilm formation, and emerging therapies targeting biofilms for more effective BV treatments.

This review explores the antimicrobial potential of essential oils (EOs) in combating microbial biofilms, highlighting their effectiveness against pathogens like S. aureus and C. albicans. EOs can serve as an alternative or adjunct to conventional antibiotics, particularly in medical device infections.

This review examines how polymicrobial biofilms contribute to bacterial vaginosis (BV) treatment failure and explores alternative strategies for improved therapy.

This study explored the effects of lactoferrin on the vaginal microbiota in women with bacterial vaginosis, showing its potential as a non-antibiotic treatment option.

Bovine lactoferrin shows promise as an adjunctive treatment for bacterial vaginosis, inhibiting metronidazole-resistant G. vaginalis strains and potentiating the effects of clindamycin. Its ability to sequester iron and act synergistically with antibiotics could offer an innovative solution to antibiotic resistance in BV.

This study evaluates the efficacy and safety of a single-dose 2% clindamycin vaginal gel for treating bacterial vaginosis, demonstrating significant clinical and bacteriologic cure rates compared to a placebo.