Vaginal Bacteria Elicit Acute Inflammatory Response in Fallopian Tube Organoids

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Biology
• Microbiology
• Immunology

Background:

• Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and tubal factor infertility are significant health concerns.
• Understanding host-pathogen interactions in the fallopian tube is crucial for developing effective treatments.
• Existing in vitro models do not fully replicate the complexity of the human fallopian tube environment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish patient tissue-derived fallopian tube (FT) organoids.
• To investigate the inflammatory response of FT organoids to acute vaginal bacterial infection.
• To differentiate host responses to specific vaginal bacterial species.

Main Methods:

• Human FT tissues were obtained from patients undergoing benign gynecological surgery.
• Patient-derived FT organoids were cultured and inoculated with Lactobacillus crispatus or Fannyhessea vaginae.
• Inflammatory gene expression profiles (249 genes) and immune cell presence were analyzed.

Main Results:

• FT organoids exhibited differential inflammatory gene expression upon exposure to L. crispatus and F. vaginae.
• Fannyhessea vaginae infection led to significant upregulation of C-X-C motif chemokine ligand (CXCL) family genes.
• Flow cytometry indicated that epithelial cells, not immune cells, were the primary source of the inflammatory response in organoids.

Conclusions:

• Patient-derived FT organoids serve as a viable in vitro model for studying host-pathogen interactions in the fallopian tube.
• FT organoids demonstrate species-specific inflammatory responses to common vaginal bacteria.
• This model system facilitates mechanistic studies of PID and subsequent tubal factor infertility.