Role of Vaginal Microbiome in Women's Health

Dear Colleagues,

The vaginal microbiome is a critical determinant of health that influences a woman's well-being across her entire lifespan. From pubertal development and immune maturation in adolescence, to its profound implications for fertility, pregnancy complications (such as preterm birth and infections), and adverse pregnancy outcomes in reproductive years, and further to postpartum recovery and urogenital health during menopause, a balanced vaginal microbiota is essential. Its role extends beyond infectious diseases like bacterial vaginosis, increasingly linking it to chronic inflammatory conditions, metabolic health, and broader physiological states.

Driven by advances in high-throughput technologies—including metagenomic sequencing, metabolomics, and proteomics—the intricate landscape of the vaginal microenvironment is being elucidated with unprecedented clarity. These tools allow deep characterization of microbial composition, metabolic activity, and host–microbe interactions, offering novel insights into female health and disease.

The Special Issue entitled "Role of Vaginal Microbiome in Women's Health" aims to present recent research on any aspect of the vaginal microbiome. Some of its focal points include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Vaginal microbiome and gynecological endocrine disorders fertility, infertility and assisted reproduction outcomes;
2. Vaginal microbiome and pregnancy-related complications, pregnancy outcomes and postpartum rehabilitation;
3. A lifespan perspective: the vaginal microbiome from menarche to menopause;
4. Novel biomarkers in the vaginal microenvironment;
5. Advances in research on diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of infectious vaginal diseases;
6. Vaginal microbiome in gynecological oncology: connections to cervical, endometrial, and ovarian cancer risk, progression, and therapeutic response;
7. Immunological aspects of the vaginal microbiome: mucosal immunity and systemic effects;
8. Modifiable factors influencing vaginal microbiome: the impact of lifestyle, medications, and environmental exposures;
9. Vaginal microbiome diversity across populations: understanding racial, ethnic, and geographic differences in women's health.

Reviews, original research, and communications will be welcome.

Dr. Xiang Hong
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.