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Volume 72, Issue 5

Interplay of the microbiome and antifungal therapy in recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis (RVVC): A narrative review Open Access

Abstract

Recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis (RVVC) is a microbial, immune and sexual health disorder impacting up to 10 % of the adult female population. Fluconazole is a well-established antifungal drug commonly utilized for acute and long-term RVVC treatment. This insight review provides an overview of known vaginal and gastrointestinal microbiota characteristics in RVVC, presents the potential impacts of fluconazole therapy on multi-microbiome relationships and discusses implications for future research and clinical practice. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and molecular methods to accurately define vaginal microbiota trends in RVVC are not comprehensively available, limiting understanding of microbiota roles in RVVC. Inconsistencies and variances in profiles in RVVC women suggest poorly understood disease implications on the bacterial and fungal microbiomes. Investigations of environmental conditions like vaginal pH, drug therapy’s impact, especially fluconazole maintenance therapy, and the elucidation of multi-microbiome relationships in RVVC are required to further investigate disease pathogenesis and responsible antimicrobial prescribing.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): candidiasis , fluconazole , microbiome , recurrent thrush and RVVC
© 2023 The Authors
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This article was made open access via a Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and the corresponding author’s institution.
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2023-05-12
2024-05-05
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Interplay of the microbiome and antifungal therapy in recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis (RVVC): A narrative review
J. Med. Microbiol. 72, 001705 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.001705
/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.001705
/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.001705
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