Impact of interconception antibiotics on the endometrial microbial flora.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of an interconception antibiotic regimen on endometrial microbial flora and histologic type.


METHODS
This was a secondary analysis of a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial of prophylactic metronidazole plus azithromycin that was given to 241 women (antibiotics, 118 women; placebo, 123 women) with a previous preterm delivery to prevent recurrent preterm delivery. Endometrial cultures and histologic types were obtained at randomization and 2 weeks after treatment. The prevalence of either the new acquisition or the resolution of individual microbes, categories of microbes, and plasma cell endometritis were compared by chi-square or Fishers' exact tests.


RESULTS
Overall, antibiotics were associated with lower acquisition and higher resolution of microbes. Of women without Gardnerella at baseline, 14% of the women who received antibiotics vs 34% of the women who received placebo had positive endometrial culture for the organism after treatment (P < .05); of those women with G. vaginalis at baseline, 57% of the women who received antibiotics vs 33% of the women who received placebo (P < .05) had a negative follow-up culture. Other gram-negative rods, especially aerobes in general, manifested similar patterns. The impact on anaerobes and plasma cell endometritis was not definitive, but there was a trend toward the increased resolution of the former (77% vs 55%) and reduced acquisition of the latter (28% vs 50%).


CONCLUSIONS
The antibiotic regimen prevented the acquisition and promoted the resolution, but not the eradication, of gram-negative rods such as G. vaginalis and the aerobic subcategory.
Tita
Alan T N
AT
Center for Women's Reproductive Health, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Cliver
Suzanne P
SP
Goepfert
Alice R
AR
Conner
Michael
M
Goldenberg
Robert L
RL
Hauth
John C
JC
Andrews
William W
WW
D000328:Adult; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017963:Azithromycin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D004717:Endometrium / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008795:Metronidazole / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016742:Preconception Care
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D008795:Metronidazole; D017963:Azithromycin