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Updated: Nov 24, 2025
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Published on: May 25, 2022
Comparison of the Vaginal Microbiota in Postmenopausal Black and White Women
Patricia L Hudson1,2, Wodan Ling3, Michael C Wu3
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Background:
We compared vaginal microbial communities in postmenopausal black and white women.
Methods:
Shotgun sequencing of vaginal swabs from postmenopausal women self-identified as black or white was compared using MiRKAT.
Results:
Vaginal community dominance by Lactobacillus crispatus or Lactobacillusgasseri was more common in 44 postmenopausal black women (n = 12, 27%) than among 44 matched white women (n = 2, 5%; P = .01). No individual taxa were significantly more abundant in either group.
Conclusions:
We identified small overall differences in vaginal microbial communities of black and white postmenopausal women. L. crispatus dominance was more common in black women.
Clinical Trials Registration:
NCT02516202 (MsFLASH05) and NCT01418209 (MsFLASH03).
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