General and Morphological Characteristics of Study Participants
The demographic information and clinical characteristics of the 29
patients are summarized in Table 1. In total, 15 patients were included
in the normal group (CTL), and 14 were diagnosed with vulvovaginal
candidiasis (VVC) due to C. albicans. There were no significant
differences in age between the groups. The median body mass index (BMI)
across the groups was around 23, with no significant difference between
the two groups. Moreover, both the Nugent score and AV score of the
subjects were 0-1/0-2, showing no significant difference between the CTL
and VVC groups. The LBG classification was also similar between the two
groups. However, women in the VVC group exhibited symptom and sign
scores ≥7 (Table 2); controls scored only 0-1 on this criterion. All
subjects suffering from VVC had a disruption of the vaginal microbiome,
and the cleanliness of vaginal discharge was III-IV°.
Table 1. Characteristics of Study Participants