Perspectives on Existing and Novel Alternative Intravaginal Probiotic Delivery Methods in the Context of Bacterial Vaginosis Infection

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is one of the most common vaginal infections that affects hundreds of millions of women of reproductive age, worldwide. Traditional treatment strategies, such as oral and topical antibiotics, have shown efficacy against BV, but frequent recurrence of infection and the develo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The AAPS journal 2021-05, Vol.23 (3), p.66-66, Article 66
Main Authors: Chandrashekhar, Priyadarshini, Minooei, Farnaz, Arreguin, Wenndy, Masigol, Mohammadali, Steinbach-Rankins, Jill M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Administration, Intravaginal
Biochemistry
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Biotechnology
Drug Delivery Systems - methods
Female
Humans
Microbiota - immunology
Pharmacology/Toxicology
Pharmacy
Probiotics - administration & dosage
Recurrence
Review Article
Theme: Celebrating Women in the Pharmaceutical Sciences
Vagina - immunology
Vagina - microbiology
Vaginosis, Bacterial - immunology
Vaginosis, Bacterial - microbiology
Vaginosis, Bacterial - therapy
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Summary:Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is one of the most common vaginal infections that affects hundreds of millions of women of reproductive age, worldwide. Traditional treatment strategies, such as oral and topical antibiotics, have shown efficacy against BV, but frequent recurrence of infection and the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria remain as significant challenges. Alternatively, recent progress in understanding immune, microbiological, and metabolic interactions in the vaginal microbiota has prompted the consideration of administering probiotic organisms to restore and maintain vaginal health within the context of BV prevention and treatment. Given this, the objective of this review is to discuss existing and potential alternative approaches to deliver, and to potentially sustain the delivery of probiotics, to prevent and/or treat BV infections. First, a brief overview is provided regarding the probiotic species and combinatorial probiotic strategies that have shown promise in the treatment of BV and in restoring female reproductive health. Additionally, the advantages and challenges associated with current oral and intravaginal probiotic delivery platforms are discussed. Lastly, we present emerging and promising alternative dosage forms, such as electrospun fibers and 3D bioprinted scaffolds, that may be adapted as new strategies to intravaginally deliver probiotic organisms. Graphical abstract
ISSN:1550-7416
1550-7416
DOI:10.1208/s12248-021-00602-z