Lactobacillus crispatus: the gold standard probiotic for vaginal health

Lactobacillus crispatus: the gold standard probiotic for vaginal health

Lactobacillus crispatus has become famous for the protective role it plays against vaginal infections and other gynaecological problems.

Lactobacillus crispatus M247, taken orally, is able to efficiently colonize the vaginal environment and exert its protective activities. Moreover, it can be used as add-on to metronidazole and boric acid.

Lactobacillus crispatus rhymes with female health

Vaginal microbes are important players in women’s health. It has been commonly recognised that vaginal profiles with high bacterial diversity are associated with increased risk of bacterial, fungal, and viral infections, whereas a healthy vaginal microbiota is predominantly composed of lactobacilli.

But this is not enough, because lactobacilli are not all the same. There are many lactobacillus species that can inhabit the vagina, each with its own characteristics; but usually the vaginal microbiota is dominated by only one species, and for most women it is one of these four: Lactobacillus crispatus, L. gasseri, L. iners or L. jensenii.

Although in all four cases we are dealing with “normal” microbiota, women whose vaginal flora is dominated by L. crispatus are particularly lucky.

In recent years, scientists have discovered that a microbiota in which L. crispatus is dominant is particularly stable and resistant to alterations and proves to be more protected from:

  • bacterial vaginosis
  • vulvovaginal candidiasis
  • urinary infections
  • HPV
  • pregnancy complications, especially premature birth

This is because Lactobacillus crispatus produces lactic acid that keeps the pH particularly low (below 4), discouraging the proliferation of pathogens. Moreover, L. crispatus fights harmful microorganisms by releasing hydrogen peroxide and other substances with an antibiotic action.

Lactobacillus crispatus as a probiotic: the peculiar strain M247

What if you’re not lucky enough to naturally harbor large amounts of L. crispatus in your vaginal flora? In this case, it is possible to use a targeted probiotic to improve vaginal health and prevent or treat several problems.

L. crispatus M247 is the second most studied crispatus strain in the world. The only one that, taken orally, shows:

  • High colonization profile of the vaginal environment. Once ingested it can easily reach the vagina and colonize it.
  • High colonization profile of the gut, where it creates a reservoir of crispatus that can be conveniently delivered to the vagina.
  • Resistance to metronidazole, which allows to administer strain M247 together with this antibiotic drug, commonly used against bacterial vaginosis.
  • Vitality in boric acid, which allows to take strain M247 alongside antifungal remedies containing this active ingredient.

Taking Lactobacillus crispatus M247 as a probiotic can, for example, prevent bacterial vaginosis, and avoid relapses in women who periodically suffer from it. Moreover, it shows a protective role against candidiasis and helps reduce episodes of cystitis in women suffering from recurring urinary tract infections.

L. crispatus M247 is just available in the product Crispact® that contains exclusively this strain with a count of 20 billion viable bacteria.

The colonizing capability of L. crispatus M247 contained in Crispact® was certified by a study published in 2021. The evaluation involved a group of women whose vaginal microbiota was not dominated by L. crispatus, but after 3 months of treatment with Crispact®, as many as 94% of the treated women had a L. crispatus-dominant vaginal microbiota.

So why should a woman take a supplement with different species of lactobacilli if the ideal scenario is to have vagina colonized by only L. crispatus?

Crispact®: a must-have probiotic for your women’s health pipeline

Crispact® is the ideal probiotic for women of any age, from puberty on. It comes in easy-to-use stick packs whose contents may be dissolved directly in the mouth or mixed in any cold or room-temperature beverage.

Currently the product is only available in Italy. PharmExtracta launched it in 2019 and since then it has established an important growing trend in sales and received great feedback from final consumers.

What’s more, Crispact® was finalist at CPhI Pharma Awards in the category “Excellence in Pharma: Finished Formulation“ in 2021.

As for clinical trials, Crispact® has been thoroughly studied in women infected by Human Papilloma Virus, proving to be able of promoting the complete clearance of HPV infection. These are bold statements, we know, but they can be supported by bold evidence.

In short, Crispact® it can be considered a success case study with great potential in many other markets apart from Italy.

Crispact