title: Survival of Gardnerella vaginalis in human urine.
abstract: The authors studied the survival of Gardnerella vaginalis in human urine and determined conditions for optimum recovery on agar media. Gardnerella counts declined by greater than 99.9% in urine held at 37 degrees C for 24 hours, whereas the falloff was negligible at 4 degrees C. Viability was lost after 6 hours in urine with pH of 5, and only 0.01% cells survived in urine with pH of 7. In contrast, greater than 90% cells survived exposure at pH of 6. Dialysis to remove small molecular weight (less than 14,000) inhibitors did not enhance survival. Co-cultivation with Ureaplasma urealyticum and the addition of glycogen improved survival. Maximum recovery from urine required anaerobic incubation on enriched agar medium (pH 6.5-7.5) for at least 48 hours. Gardnerella vaginalis survives poorly in human urine at 37 degrees C. Culture for these bacteria requires prolonged anaerobic incubation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Nephrology, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia.
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: D F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Birch
mesh_terms: D000362:Agar; D003470:Culture Media; D003956:Dialysis; D005260:Female; D006194:Gardnerella vaginalis / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006003:Glycogen / Q000652:urine; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D013696:Temperature; D014509:Ureaplasma / Q000502:physiology; D014556:Urine / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D000362:Agar; D006003:Glycogen