title: Light microscopy observation of lytic enzymatic activity of the organisms associated with bacterial vaginosis.
abstract: In this study, cervico-vaginal smears taken from 500 patients were examined cytologically using the Papanicolaou technique. Seventeen of the 500 were classified as having bacterial vaginosis. Lytic enzymatic activity of the organisms on clue cells were determined at light microscopic level. The integrity of the cell and the smoothness of the cell membrane were disrupted. Small cavities on the cell membrane and hollows in the cytoplasm were observed. Due to the loss of cytoplasm, very narrow and thin tracks around the nucleus and in the cytoplasm resembling a cobweb were seen. It is suggested that these lytic cellular changes might be formed by the organisms on clue cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. sayeste@hacettepe.edu.tr
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Demirezen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006194:Gardnerella vaginalis / Q000166:cytology* / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D008859:Microscopy, Polarization; D008875:Middle Aged; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D014421:Turkey; D014626:Vaginal Smears; D016585:Vaginosis, Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology