DESI-MS an efficient way for preterm birth risk stratification: Study

UK: A cohort study by Pamela Pruski and team revealed that direct on-swab metabolic profiling by Desorption Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry (DESI-MS) is an innovative approach for preterm birth risk stratification through rapid assessment of vaginal microbiota-host dynamics. The findings of the study are published in the journal Nature Communications.

Lactobacillus species depletion and increased microbial diversity are characteristic of bacterial vaginosis (BV) and associated with sexually transmitted infections, including HIV causing pre-term birth risk. The vaginal microbiome is a key mediator of reproductive tract pathophysiology. Dr. Pruski and the team aimed to describe direct on-swab metabolic profiling by DESI-MS for sample preparation-free characterization of the cervicovaginal metabolome in two independent pregnancy cohorts.

The study was two independent pregnancy cohorts (VMET, n = 160; 455 swabs; VMET II, n = 205; 573 swabs). By integrating metataxonomics and immune profiling data from matched samples.

The results of the study were

• They showed that specific metabolome signatures can be used to robustly predict simultaneously both the composition of the vaginal microbiome and host inflammatory status.

• In these patients, vaginal microbiota instability and innate immune activation, as predicted using DESI-MS, are associated with preterm birth, including in women receiving cervical cerclage for preterm birth prevention.

"Despite recent developments in metataxonomics and metagenomics, vaginal microbiota composition (VMC) characterization in clinical settings remains largely limited to culture and microscopy, which like molecular-based approaches, fails to capture information regarding host response," wrote the authors. "Our method, which is easily amenable to bedside point-of-care testing31,32, addresses this limitation by leveraging information contained within the cervicovaginal mucosa to provide robust detection of VMCs and simultaneous estimation of host immune and inflammatory status."

The team hence concluded that "These findings highlight direct on-swab metabolic profiling by DESI-MS as an innovative approach for preterm birth risk stratification through rapid assessment of vaginal microbiota-host dynamics."

Reference: Pruski, P., Correia, G.D.S., Lewis, H.V. et al. Direct on-swab metabolic profiling of vaginal microbiome host interactions during pregnancy and preterm birth. Nat Commun 12, 5967 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26215-w