Chair highlights achievements of OBGYN Team's article published indicating that there is no evidence of an existing human placental microbiome.
Reported on Friday, March 1, 2019.
Wayne State University School of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology faculty, fellows and nurses published an article indicating that there is no evidence of an existing human placental microbiome.
An influential paper had reported in 2014 that the normal placenta had a unique placental microbiome and this received wide press coverage. The most abundant organism found was E.coli and Bacteroides species. The microorganisms were only identified through DNA sequencing and the composition of the microbiome was similar to the oral cavity.
The team at WSU Perinatal Research Initiative and the Perinatology Research Branch studied 29 placentas of women who delivered at term and found that the placentas did not demonstrate evidence of a microbiome using culture, 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, real-time PCR, and metagenomic analysis.
The paper and video are attached. It is likely that there will be coverage of this work through social media and the news.
Does the Placenta have a Microbiota?