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Objective: To determine the effects on the vaginal microbiota of an oral probiotic preparation administered from early pregnancy. Design: Randomised, double blind, placebo‐controlled trial. Setting: Four maternity units in the UK. Population: Women aged 16 years or older recruited at 9–14 weeks' gestation. Methods: Participants were randomly allocated to receive oral capsules of probiotic containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR‐1 and Lactobacillus reuteri RC‐14 each at 2.5 × 109 colony‐forming units (CFUs) or placebo once daily from recruitment until the end of pregnancy. Main outcome measure: Rates of bacterial vaginosis (BV, defined as Nugent score ≥7) at 18–20 weeks' gestation compared by logistic regression adjusted for possible confounders. Results: The primary analysis included 78% (238/304) of participants who initially consented (probiotic group 123, placebo group 115). Of these participants, 95% (227/238) reported an intake of 93% or more of the required number of capsules. The rates of BV did not differ between groups at 18–20 weeks' gestation (15% (19/123) in the probiotic group vs. 9% (10/115) in the placebo group, adjusted odds ratio 1.82, 95% confidence interval 0.64–5.19). There were also no differences between the groups in the proportion of women colonised with the probiotic strains, Escherichia coli, group B streptococci or other vaginal microbiota. There were no differences in the alpha diversity or composition of the bacterial communities between or within the probiotic and placebo groups at 9–14 and 18–20 weeks' gestation. Conclusions: Oral probiotics taken from early pregnancy did not modify the vaginal microbiota. The oral probiotic preparation used in this study does not prevent BV in pregnant women. The oral probiotic preparation used in this study does not prevent BV in pregnant women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The present bibliometric study aimed to identify and perform the analysis of top one hundred cited publications on Ramadan fasting and health., Methods: The Web of Science database was searched for publication analyses of the papers published from January 2004 till June 2019. The search was performed using keywords "Ramadan" AND "Health" OR "Fast*". The descriptive analysis was performed using SPSS (version 20) software. The coauthor collaborations and keywords were analyzed using VOS viewer software (version 1.6.11)., Results: The present study found that the United Kingdom was the most productive country (n=15) followed by Turkey (n=13), Tunisia (n=12) and Saudi Arabia (n=11). The most prominent institution was National Center of Medicine and Science in Sports, Tunisia (n=7) followed by King Saud University, Saudi Arabia (n=6) and Loughborough University, United Kingdom (n=5)., Conclusion: The most frequently occurring keywords in this analysis were Ramadan, fasting, exercise, Ramadan fasting and physical performance. The present study provides insight into the impactful papers pertaining to Ramadan fasting and associated health benefits., (Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Aim: To determine the diversity and stability of cultured vaginal lactobacilli in a multi-ethnic population of pregnant women., Methods and Results: A single-centre, prospective, cohort study was performed in a tertiary perinatal centre in East London, UK. Self-collected vaginal swabs at 13 and 20 weeks gestation were obtained from women attending for routine antenatal care and cultured for lactobacilli. In women who provided both swabs, 37 of 203 (18%) had no lactobacilli cultured at either time. Only 53 (26%) had the same species at both times. Black women were less likely to have lactobacilli cultured at 13 weeks (P = 0·014), and Black and Asian women were less likely to have lactobacilli cultured at 20 weeks (P = 0·002) compared with those in the White and Other groups., Conclusions: Significant differences exist between ethnic groups in the carriage and stability of vaginal lactobacilli., Significance and Impact of the Study: These differences have implications for the design of interventions aimed at normalizing the vaginal microbiota in pregnant women., (© 2014 The Society for Applied Microbiology.)