Table 1.

Summary of literature on microbial dynamics and reproductive physiology.

Reproductive State/disorder	Effect on microbiome	References
Menstruation	Altered vaginal microbiome stability, but no change in microbial function	Gajer et al., 2012
Placental function	Modulation of placental function and metabolism	Aagaard et al., 2014
Preterm birth (PTB)	Altered microbial diversity, but not richness; Associated with Lactobacillus iners	Brocklehurst et al., 2013 Barbonetti et al., 2011
Pregnancy	Reduction in microbial richness and diversity; Induced microbial stability	Dechen et al., 2010 Barbonetti et al., 2011; Aagaard et al., 2012
Vaginal parturition	Colonization of fetal microbiome	Dominguez et al., 2003; Huurre et al., 2008; Groeger et al., 2013; Tojo et al., 2014
Bacterial vaginosis (BV)	Altered vaginal bacterial colonization; Associated with PTB, STDs, and UTIs	Roger et al., 2010; Aaltonen et al., 2011; Brotman, 2011
Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)	Ascension of pathogens from the lower to upper reproductive tract; Pathogens connected to PID also associated with BV	van Oostrum et al., 2013
STDs/STIs	Associated with BV; Decreased vaginal microbiome-vaginal cavity immune system relationship	Roger et al., 2010; Jaiyeoba et al., 2011; Taylor et al., 2013 Klebanoff and Coombs, 1991; Hill and Anderson, 1992; Brotman et al., 2007, 2010; Mirmonsef et al., 2011
Cancers of the reproductive tract	Shift from protective to harmful bacteria; Associated with viral infections (HIV, HPV); Link between BV and precancerous lesions/malignancy progression of cervical cancer	Nicol et al., 2005 Martin et al., 1999; Brotman et al., 2010 Barrington et al., 1997; Parkin, 2006; Denslow et al., 2011
Ovarian stimulation for IVF	Altered vaginal microbiome, but no change in diversity of microbial species	Hyman et al., 2013
Estrogen circulation	Estrabolome metabolizing functions	Cole et al., 1985; Gadelle et al., 1985; Dabek et al., 2008; Hou et al., 2013; Mandar, 2013