Methods
Post-menopausal women age 40-62 enrolled in a hot flash treatment trial answered questions about vaginal symptoms (itch, burn, pain, discharge, dryness), provided vaginal swabs and a blood sample at enrollment. Bacterial communities were determined using 16S rRNA PCR and deep sequencing targeting the V3-V4 region, and results clustered by dominant taxa. Glycogen was measured fluorometrically in swab eluate. Total (T) and unconjugated (Un) serum estradiol(E2) and estrone(E1) were measured in blood by ultra-sensitive liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. Comparisons between groups used Kruskall-Wallis or Fisher’s exact test. Associations between individual taxa, glycogen and estrogen were tested by linear regression, and with symptoms by Wilcoxon signed-rank test, both adjusted for multiple comparisons.
Methods
Post-menopausal women age 40-62 enrolled in a hot flash treatment trial answered questions about vaginal symptoms (itch, burn, pain, discharge, dryness), provided vaginal swabs and a blood sample at enrollment. Bacterial communities were determined using 16S rRNA PCR and deep sequencing targeting the V3-V4 region, and results clustered by dominant taxa. Glycogen was measured fluorometrically in swab eluate. Total (T) and unconjugated (Un) serum estradiol(E2) and estrone(E1) were measured in blood by ultra-sensitive liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. Comparisons between groups used Kruskall-Wallis or Fisher’s exact test. Associations between individual taxa, glycogen and estrogen were tested by linear regression, and with symptoms by Wilcoxon signed-rank test, both adjusted for multiple comparisons.
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