Characteristics of the two microbial markers in vaginal secretions in Chinese Han population

Abstract Distinguishing vaginal secretions from other forensically relevant biological fluids could significantly aid the forensic investigation, especially in cases of sexual assault. Recently, two microbial markers, Lactobacillus crispatus and Lactobacillus gasseri for identification of vaginal secretions, were reported. However, the relevant study was not performed in Chinese Han population. In this study, we investigated the characteristics of the two markers in Chinese Han population. We detected 16S–23S rRNA intergenic spacer region by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay and characterized the species composition by sequencing 16S rRNA genes. The results revealed that the two microbial markers only expressed in vaginal secretions samples rather than in other body fluids, but they did not express in all female individuals. In conclusion, the inter-individual variation of these two markers should be considered, when the two markers were used for the identification of vaginal secretions in Chinese Han population.