Pramanick R, et al. - Women asymptomatic for bacterial vaginosis (BV) and vulvovaginal candidiasis were examined for the cultivable vaginal bacterial and mycological communities using multiplex PCR and species-specific PCR. Scoring vaginal swabs collected from 199 participants asymptomatic for urogenital infections by Nugent criteria revealed normal microbiota in 73.9%, intermediate in 11.6% and BV in 14.5%. Normal women most frequently had L. iners (69.4%), L. crispatus (24.5%), and L. reuteri (20.4%) among Lactobacillus species. Colonization with L. iners (62.1%), L. rhamnosus (41.4%), L. salivarius (13.7%) and L. reuteri (7.2%) was noted among women with BV. In addition, an association of L. crispatus with normal microbiota was observed, whereas normal and dysbiotic microbiota frequently included L. iners. Researchers noted a reduction in Lactobacillus abundance and species richness in asymptomatic BV. Findings suggest colonization of 80.8% of normal women with heterogeneous population of lactobacilli indicating the cumulative effects of these species in safeguarding the vaginal microenvironment. Given the differences in the microbiota of asymptomatic BV from healthy women, they support encouraging screening and management to avoid further complications of infections.