title: The role of Lactobacillus casei rhamnosus Lcr35 in restoring the normal vaginal flora after antibiotic treatment of bacterial vaginosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the efficacy of additional topical Lactobacillus casei rhamnosus (Lcr35) subsequent to antibiotic treatment of bacterial vaginosis (BV) to restore the normal vaginal flora.
  
  
  METHODS
  Single-centre, randomised, observerblinded study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population-based study in Vienna over 1 year.
  
  
  METHODS
  190 women were enrolled in the study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Women with Nugent scores between 7 and 10 on initial vaginal swab were randomised to the one of two groups. All women were treated with standard antibiotic therapy for 7 days. Only women in the intervention group received vaginal capsules containing 10(9) colony-forming units of live Lcr35 for 7 days after antibiotic treatment. Final vaginal swabs for Nugent scoring were taken 4 weeks after the last administration of the study medication.
  
  
  METHODS
  The primary efficacy variable was a change in the Nugent score between the baseline and the end of the study of at least 5 grades in each individual woman.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-nine of the 83 women (83%) in the intervention group and 31 of the 88 women (35%) in the control group showed a reduction of the Nugent score by at least 5 grades. The difference in the number of women with improvement was highly significant (P < 0.001). The median difference in Nugent scores between initial and final swabs was 6.61 in the intervention group and 4.13 in the control group (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data show that the restoration of the vaginal flora after antibiotic treatment of BV can be significantly enhanced by exogenously applied lactobacilli.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Fetomaternal Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Petricevic
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Witt
mesh_terms: D000282:Administration, Intravaginal; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002214:Capsules; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D052201:Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus; D008875:Middle Aged; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D014621:Vagina / Q000382:microbiology*; D016585:Vaginosis, Bacterial / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002214:Capsules