Table 2.

Role of Vaginal Lactobacillus in different clinical conditions and maintenance of normal physiological response

Lactobacillus spp.	Activity	Reference
L. crispatus, L. jensenii, L. gasseri	Cell free supernatant of Lactobacillus spp. showed inhibition of proliferation of cervical cancer using Caski cell lines and showed pH independent morphological changes. Human papillomavirus (HPV) E6 and E7 oncogenes, along with CDK2 and cyclin A were reduced, while p21 expression was increased. This inhibitory effects on cervical cancer cells are mediated by HPV oncogenes and cell cycle-related genes regulation.	[28]
L. crispatus	L. crispatus inhibited entry of Herpes simplex virus (HSV)-2 in the cell by trapping virus particles on cell lines based assays.	[29]
L. acidophilus, L. gasseri, L. jensenii	Lactobacillus spp. isolated from vaginas of healthy women self aggregated, adhered to vaginal epithelia and displaced vaginal pathogens, such as G. vaginalis. The self aggregation was mediated through proteins in L. gasseri and lipoproteins in L. acidophilus and L. jensenii. The competition for vaginal cells glycolipid receptors between Lactobacillus and pathogenic bacteria was proposed as a target for this activity.	[30]
L. crispatus	Lactobacillus was co-cultured with vaginal epithelial cell lines (MS74) and evaluated for their activity on vaginal epithelial healing using scratch assay. The bacteria significantly improved re-epithelialization of MS74 cells with increased vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).	[31]
L. iners, L. crispatus	3D human vaginal epithelial cells were colonized with studied Lactobacillus or Atopobium vaginae and Prevotella bivia (associated with bacterial vaginosis) and different group of bacteria act differentially in modulating innate immune response and barrier function.	[32]
L. crispatus, L. iners, L. gasseri, L. jensenii	Level of extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-8) was evaluated in vaginal secretions and compared with vaginal bacterial communities and found that vaginal microbial communities affect these parameters.	[33]
L. crispatus, L. iners	Dominance of studied L. crispatus in vaginal microenvironment of pregnant women shows lower induction of stress related proteins HSP70.	[34]
L. crispatus, L. iners	The relative concentrations of L. crispatus, L. iners and G. vaginalis decide the vaginal microbiota composition of mid-trimester pregnant women.	[35]