Gut Microbiota Shifts with Lifetime Duration of Oral Contraception Use

Paul, G.; York, S.; Alcazar, R.

doi:10.1101/2025.09.09.675238

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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2025.09.09.675238

Gut Microbiota Shifts with Lifetime Duration of Oral Contraception Use

Paul, G.·York, S.·Alcazar, R.

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Abstract

To investigate the effects of lifetime duration of oral contraceptive (OC) use, we reanalyzed publicly available 16S rRNA sequencing data from fecal samples of OC users and non-users collected at different timepoints in the menstrual cycle. We profiled the microbial composition of subjects and identified 32 significantly differentially abundant Amplicon Sequence Variants (padj<0.05) with increasing lifetime use duration including 16 ASVs belonging to class Clostidia that decreased with longer OC use. Some Clostridia species are known to recycle estrogen; lifetime duration of OC exposure could thus influence womens health through gut microbiome composition and hormone regulation.

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Paul, G., York, S., Alcazar, R.. 2025-09-09. Gut Microbiota Shifts with Lifetime Duration of Oral Contraception Use. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.09.09.675238

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