title: Gardnerella, Trichomonas vaginalis, Candida, Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum in the genital discharge of symptomatic fertile and asymptomatic infertile women.
abstract: This study aimed to establish the different prevalence of the microorganisms investigated in the two groups considered: fertile women with symptoms and asymptomatic women with infertility problems. The data from women (n= 952) investigated for two years for quality of genital discharge and the presence of Gardnerella vaginalis, Trichomonas vaginalis, Candida species, Streptococcus agalactiae, Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma urealyiticum and Chlamydia trachomatis were retrospectively analyzed. In the population of fertile women with symptoms the microrganisms most frequently involved are Gardnerella vaginalis (26.6%), Candida species (12.1%) and Streptococcus agalactiae (9.2%). The genital discharges of asymptomatic women with infertility problems are characterized by a prevalence of Gardnerella vaginalis (19.7%), Enterobacteriaceae or Enterococci (12.1%) and Streptococcus agalactiae (8.6%). The reduction of vaginal lactobacilli flora and the presence of an elevated number of polymorphonucleates in the vaginal discharge are important parameters to consider for the evaluation of the health status of the human female urogenital tract. Our results indicate that is important to culture the vaginal discharge for Streptococcus agalactiae and for prevalence of Enterobacteriaceae and Enterococci. Lastly, the reasons for the prevalence of some microorganisms (Gardnerella vaginalis, Enterobacteriaceae and Enterococci, Streptococcus agalactiae) in the population of infertile asymptomatic women need to be better analyzed especially after the recent studies correlating idiopathic infertility with the presence of cervical cytokines in women with an abnormal vaginal flora.
authors.affiliation: Analysis Laboratory, Microbiology Section, IRCCS Humanitas Clinical Institute, Milan, Italy. erminia.casari@humanitas.it
authors.forename: Erminia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Casari
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferrario
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Morenghi
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Montanelli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002175:Candida / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000382:microbiology; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D016975:Gardnerella / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D019535:Mycoplasma hominis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014247:Trichomonas Vaginitis / Q000469:parasitology; D014246:Trichomonas vaginalis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016990:Ureaplasma urealyticum / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D019522:Vaginal Discharge / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D055815:Young Adult