title: Impact of antiseptics on Chlamydia trachomatis growth.
abstract: Bacterial vaginosis is a frequent dysbiosis, where the normal lactobacillus-dominated flora is replaced by an anaerob/aerob polymicrobial flora. Bacterial vaginosis increases the risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STI) including the most frequent Chlamydia trachomatis infections. Intravaginal antiseptics are part of the bacterial vaginosis treatment, and ideally they should also inhibit the bacterial vaginosis-related STI. Therefore, we tested the antichlamydial activity of four antiseptics: iodine aqueous solution, povidone-iodine, chlorhexidine and borax. First, we measured the impact of antiseptics on the viability of the HeLa cervical epithelial cells, and calculated the maximum nontoxic concentrations. Next, we infected the cells with C. trachomatis preincubated for 1 h with the particular antiseptic. The chlamydial growth was measured by direct quantitative PCR (qPCR) of the infected cells. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of chlorhexidine and povidone-iodine were 3·91 and 97 μg ml(-1) respectively; however, the MIC of chlorhexidine was close to its maximum nontoxic concentration. The iodine aqueous solution and the borax showed no antichlamydial activity. Our in vitro studies showed that chlorhexidine and particularly povidone-iodine are potentially able to limit the bacterial vaginosis-related C. trachomatis infection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We measured the antichlamydial effects of various antiseptics. These antiseptics are being used for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis, but their effect on the bacterial vaginosis-related sexually transmitted infections, particularly the most frequent Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis) infections has not been investigated. We showed that povidone-iodine (Betadine) inhibited the chlamydial growth in concentrations that was not toxic to the epithelial cells. We concluded that due to its additional antichlamydial effect, povidone-iodine could be a preferable antiseptic in bacterial vaginosis treatment.
authors.affiliation: Pándy Kálmán County Hospital, Gyula, Hungary.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Párducz
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunobiology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Eszik
authors.affiliation: Pándy Kálmán County Hospital, Gyula, Hungary.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunobiology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Burián
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunobiology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Endrész
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunobiology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary. virok.dezso.peter@med.u-szeged.hu.
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Virok
mesh_terms: D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002460:Cell Line; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D002710:Chlorhexidine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D011206:Povidone-Iodine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016585:Vaginosis, Bacterial / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local; D011206:Povidone-Iodine; D002710:Chlorhexidine
keywords: Betadine; Chlamydia; antiseptic; chlorhexidine; growth; povidone-iodine; quantitative PCR