Effect of the Intravaginal Inoculation of Phytobiotics in a Murine Experimental Model

Abstract

Lactobacilli play a fundamental role in maintaining health and preventing infections of the female urogenital tract. Complementary use of vegetal extracts selected for their ethnopharmacological characteristics and conventional uses for the different conditions in the human body as an adequate alternative therapy for the restoration of the vaginal microbiome has emerged. Compatibility of phytoextracts with lactobacilli for the design of phytobiotic formulas was determined previously. Safety of selected combinations by the intravaginal (i.va.) administration in a murine model was evaluated to determine if some type of adverse effect was produced in the host. Lactobacillus gasseri CRL1320, Limosilactobacillus reuteri CRL1324, Ligilactobacillus salivarius CRL1328 and Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus CRL1332 combined with Hamamelis-virginiana, Amaranthus-muricatus and Smilax-áspera, were inoculated individually or combined in mice vagina (7 daily doses). Vaginal washes were taken for microbiological (cultivable lactobacilli) and cytological (May Grünwald-Giemsa technique) evaluations, and vagina for histological (by Hematoxylin-Eosin) and ultrastructural (by electronic microscopy) analyses. Results obtained demonstrated that the i.va. phytobiotics administration did not produce adverse effects in the murine vaginal tract, by absence of inflammatory response. There were no modifications of the vaginal tract at the structural and ultrastructure level, suggesting the safety of phytobiotic formulas. Results obtained in this stage are original because information of viability and safety of natural extracts with strains of beneficial lactobacilli in in vivo trials are limited, and will allow progress in the design of beneficial formulas of reproductive age women.