Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
SUMMARY
This study aimed to establish the different prevalence of the microorganisms investigated in the two groups consid-
ered: 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 ure-
alyiticum and Chlamydia trachomatis were retrospectively analyzed.
In the population of fertile women with symptoms the microrganisms most frequently involved are Gardnerella vagi-
nalis (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.
KEY WORDS: Gardnerella vaginalis, Candida species, Trichomonas vaginalis, Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma ure-
alyticum, Chlamydia trachomatis, Vaginal discharge, Infertility
thra of both genders. Symptomatic female pa- tubal damage. Another factor supporting this hy-
tients will experience either cervicitis or urethri- pothesis is that women with anovulation are three
tis, but the majority of patients will be symptom- times more likely to have bacterial vaginosis than
free. If untreated, the bacteria can ascend the fe- women with endometriosis or male factor infer-
male genital tract, causing endometritis, salpin- tility, suggesting a hormonal influence on the
gitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic preg- vaginal flora. However, several studies concern
nancy or tubal factor infertility (Stamm, 1999). the relationships between tubal infertility and
Factors predisposing to candida vulvovaginitis bacterial vaginosis or prior bacterial infections
are antibiotic treatment and diabetes mellitus (De (Rivero et al., 2002; Rodriguez et al., 2001;
Leon et al., 2002). Trichomonas vaginalis infec- Okonofua et al., 1995; Andreeva et al., 2002;
tion is due to anaerobic flagellated protozoa; it Uzlova et al., 2000).
may cause serious health consequences, but is Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis
readily treatable (Kurth et al., 2004). have also been involved in female fertility (Fenkci
Bacterial vaginosis, widely believed to be the most et al., 2002; Rosemond et al., 2006). The role of
common vaginal disorder affecting women of re- Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae
productive age, is defined as an alteration of the infection in pelvic inflammatory disease (PID),
vaginal bacterial morphotypes characterized by and hence tubal infertility, is well recognized
overgrowth of several anaerobic and mi- (Gaudoin et al., 1999; Cates Jr et al., 1990).
croaerophilic bacteria, gram-positive cocci, and The aim of this study was to verify our local epi-
decreased prevalence of lactobacillus species demiology and in particular the most common
(Schenbach et al., 1993; Hillier et al., 1993). bacterial species in a group of fertile women with
The role of Streptococcus agalactiae as the most symptoms and in asymptomatic infertile women
common cause of neonatal sepsis is well recog- and to establish the different prevalence in the
nized, but vaginal colonization by this organism two groups considered.
and its connection with vaginal symptoms is still To determine the proportional rate of coloniza-
controversial. In the view of some authors tion, a retrospective study was conducted based
(Maniatis et al., 1996), Streptococcus agalactiae in on microbiological investigations of the vaginal
symptomatic women with microscopic evidence flora performed on fertile women with symptoms
of inflammation should be considered a causative (WWS) attending our ambulatory and on asymp-
agent of vaginitis. Other authors have recom- tomatic women with infertility problems (WWI)
mended that patients should not be treated with enrolled on screening program two weeks before
antibiotics to isolate Streptococcus agalactiae from in vitro fertilisation. In particular Gardnerella vagi-
routinely collected genital swabs in female at- nalis, Trichomonas vaginalis, Candida species,
tendees of a genitourinary medicine clinic (Shaw Streptococcus agalactiae, Mycoplasma hominis,
et al., 2003). Ureaplasma urealyiticum and Chlamydia tra-
Moreover, some studies have associated chomatis were investigated. A study of the mi-
Escherichia coli with symptomatic vaginal infec- croorganism eventually prevalent in the vaginal
tions (Gonzales Pedraza et al., 2004): the relatively discharge was conducted with a semiquantitative
low carriage rate indicates that this organism assessment of lactobacilli and polymorphonucle-
should not be considered part of the normal in- ate numbers.
digenous vaginal flora.
Recently, due to the high incidence of infertility,
vaginosis/vaginitis has been investigated not on- MATERIALS AND METHODS
ly in symptomatic women, but also for screening
before assisted reproduction. A recent study Patient population
(Wilson et al., 2002) concluded that women with Between December 2005 and December 2007
tubal infertility were three times more likely to women (n=952), attending our outpatient clinic
have bacterial vaginosis than women with en- (situated in the south of Milan) undergoing vagi-
dometriosis, male factor and unexplained infer- nal swabs to test for Gardnerella vaginalis (Gv),
tiliy, supporting the association between bacter- Candida (C), Trichomonas vaginalis (Tv) and
ial vaginosis, pelvic inflammatory disease and Streptococcus agalactiae (Sa) and endocervical
Gardnerella, Trichomonas vaginalis, Candida, Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum 71
swabs to test for Mycoplasma hominis (Mh), beads to which the specific oligonucleotide
Ureaplasma urealyticum (Uu) and Chlamydia tra- probes for Gv, Tv and C (capture beads) were
chomatis (Ch) were classified, after providing in- fixed was placed in well 1, and the automated
formed consent, on the basis of the reason for the processing was begun.
test: screening program before in vitro fertilisa-
tion or symptomatic status. Women who had Test for the presence of Streptococcus agalactiae
been treated with antibiotics or antifungals with- The vaginal swab was rolled out onto blood agar
in the past week were excluded, as were women with colistin-nalidixin acid (Becton Dickinson,
undergoing vaginal douches and postmenopausal Milan,Italy). The plate was incubated at 37°C in
women. a CO2 thermostater. The test was considered pos-
itive in presence of colonies of Sa at the third
Specimen collection seeding dial plate.
For every patient, one vaginal swab was obtained
with the Affirm VPIII sample collection set Test for the valutation of Enterobacteriaceae or
(Becton Dickinson, Milan, Italy), and one was col- Enterococci prevalence
lected with Amies-Stuart medium (Becton The vaginal swab was rolled out onto a 5% sheep
Dickinson, Milan, Italy). A vaginal smear was blood agar plate (Becton Dickinson, Milan, Italy).
then performed by rolling a third vaginal swab The plate was incubated at 37°C in a CO2 ther-
over a glass slide. mostater. The test was considered positive in pres-
Two endocervical specimens were also collected ence of Enterobacteriaceae or Enterococci
with a cytobrush; one was inserted into a trans- colonies at the third seeding dial plate.
port medium of universal transport medium
UTM kit (Copan, Brescia, Italy), and the other Test for Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma
was inoculated in 2 mL urea-arginine broth urealyticum
(UMM) using the Mycoplasma IST 2 commercial The adhesive film was removed from the screen-
kit (Elitech, salon de Provence, France) for Mh ing tray of Mycoplasma IST 2 commercial kit
and Uu investigation. (Elitech, salon de Provence, France) and 100 µl of
inoculated UMM medium was dispensed into one
Specimen processing of the wells of the screening tray.
Tests for lactobacilli and polymorphonucleates Two drops of paraffin oil were added to the wells.
The vaginal smears were Gram stained and ex- The tray was incubated at 37°C for 24 hours.
amined with an optical microscope. Urogenital mycoplasma growth is indicated when
the medium turns red.
Tests for Gardnerella vaginalis, Trichomonas The enumeration of mycoplasma was based on
vaginalis and Candida the rate of urea or arginine hydrolysis which is
300 µL of lysis solution was added to the vaginal proportional to the number of germs contained in
swab in the Affirm collection vial (Becton the sample. The test was considered positive
Dickinson, Milan, Italy). The swab was mixed when the enumeration of urogenital mycoplas-
with the lysis solution to allow complete de- ma was up to 105 CCU/mL.
struction of the prokaryotic cell wall by twisting
the swab with an up-and-down motion for 10 s. Test for Chlamydia trachomatis
With the swab remaining in the tube, the sus- A 50 µL sample of processed specimen was added
pension was incubated for 10 min at 85°C in a to 50 µL of Master Mix containing internal con-
heating block. After incubation, 450 L of Affirm trol and amplified with the thermal cycler of the
buffer solution was added to the lysis suspension COBAS Amplicor system (Roche, Milan, Italy).
to maintain the pH solution between 7.0 and 8.0. The thermal cycling conditions were performed
The contents of the swab were expressed along automatically. Upon completion of amplification
the wall of the tube, and the swab was discarded. the COBAS Amplicor system automatically de-
The solution obtained was then filtered into the natured the amplified DNA, hybridized the am-
first well of the seven-well processing cassette plicon to the target-specific oligonucleotides
caddy. The Affirm card containing the embedded bound to magnetic microparticles, and colori-
72 E. Casari, A. Ferrario, E. Morenghi, A. Montanelli
Lactobacilli
Polymorphonucleates
Statistical data on lactobacilli ra (Larsen et al., 2001). Our data demonstrate that
Statistical analysis showed a highly significant the presence of Uu in the vaginal discharge at a
(p≤0.001) association between the presence of concentration of up to 100000 CCU/mL is corre-
fewer lactobacilli and Uu, Sa, Gv and a preva- lated with a reduction of vaginal lactobacilli flo-
lence of Enterobacteriaceae or Enterococci in the ra, as previously described by other authors
vaginal flora (Table 1) considering all the patients (Christopoulos et al., 2007; Zdrodowska-Stefanov
together. There was no significant association et al., 2006).
with Ch, Mh, C or Tv. The causal role of Sa in vulvovaginal symptoms
has not been well researched, since Sa are known
Statistical data on polymorphonucleates to colonise the genital tract in 4-18 % of healthy
Statistical analysis showed a significant (p<0.05) women (Rowen, 1993).
association between the presence of ++/+++ poly- Some authors, evaluating samples from women
morphonucleates and C in the vaginal flora con- with vaginal symptoms, concluded that Sa in
sidering all the patients together (Table 2). symptomatic women with evidence of micro-
scopic inflammation should be considered a
Statistical data on the prevalence of the causative agent of vaginitis, but a retrospective
different microorganisms in the two study conducted in the UK demonstrated that the
populations isolation of Sa from routinely collected genital
In the population of WWS the microrganisms in- swabs in females attending a GUM clinic is not
volved were distributed as follows: Gv (26.7%), C causally related to vulvovaginal symptoms.
(12.1%), Sa (9.2%), prevalence of Entero- These findings are confirmed by a study con-
bacteriaceae or Enterococci (7.4%), Uu (4.9%), ducted to determine whether Sa infection is sex-
Ct (2.2%), Tv (0.54%) and Mh (0.18%). WWI were ually transmitted and related to vaginal symp-
characterized by overgrowth of several aerobic toms or signs (Honig et al., 2002).
bacteria, especially a prevalence of Gv (19.7%), In our study, females with a high Sa concentra-
Enterobacteriaceae or Enterococci (12.12 %) and tion in the vaginal discharge (in fact our culture
Sa (8.59%) (Table 3). procedure did not include a broth enrichment
passage, as with Todd Hewitt broth) demon-
strated a low lactobacilli load and a high poly-
DISCUSSION morphonucleate number in the vaginal smear.
All these findings supported our conviction that
The health status of the human female urogeni- Sa is a causative agent of vulvovaginal symp-
tal tract largely depends on the vaginal microflo- toms.
74 E. Casari, A. Ferrario, E. Morenghi, A. Montanelli
The correlation between the absence of lacto- troversial (Gaudoin et al., 1999; Liversedge et al.,
bacilli and Gardnerella vaginalis is well known 1999; Wittemer et al., 2004; Burrello et al., 2004).
(Hillier et al., 1993; Mazzulli et al., 1990; Tokyol et There is no doubt about the role of chlamydial
al., 2004; Verhelst et al., 2004; Tamrakar et al., infection in the genesis of tubal-peritoneal infer-
2007). tility (Paavonen et al., 1999; Cates et al., 1990;
In particular, bacterial vaginosis is characterized Akande et al., 2003), but the role of other intra-
by the replacement of lactobacillus-predominant cellular microrganisms such as Uu and Mh re-
vaginal flora with Gv, Bacteroides species, mains unclear (Imudia et al., 2008; Grzesko et al.,
Mobilunculus species and genital mycoplasmas. 2007; Samra et al., 1994).
We obtained the same findings in our two popu- Other microrganisms which are causative agents
lations. of bacterial vaginosis have been blamed for in-
Recent studies associated Escherichia coli with fertility.
symptomatic infections at vaginal level, mainly In practice, the disturbed proportion of microor-
due to changes in the normal flora. Culturing the ganisms in the vagina led to a predisposition to a
vaginal discharge on sheep blood agar plate, we disturbance of the natural defence mechanism
demonstrated in some cases a prevalence (growth and the spread of infectious agents towards the
at third quadrant) of gram-negative bacilli or upper female genital tract leading to a predispo-
gram-positive cocci, and the simultaneous ab- sition for the development of tubal patency and
sence of lactobacillus flora on microscopic ex- motility disorders, ovarian function disorders and
amination. endometritis.
In view of the relatively low carriage rate in nor- In particular, an abnormal vaginal flora is asso-
mal flora, these findings suggest that the preva- ciated with elevated cervical levels of IL-1 beta
lence of Enterobacteriaceae or Enterococci has and IL-8 and this can be the previously unrecog-
a role in vaginosis. nized cause of idiopathic infertility (Spandorfer et
Our observations regarding the presence of a al., 2001; Reddy et al., 2004). In effect we found
large number of polymorphonucleates in the vagi- that WWI were characterized by overgrowth of
nal discharge of women with a prevalence of several aerobic bacteria, especially a prevalence of
Enterobacteriaceae or Enterococci further cor- Gv (19.7%), Enterobacteriaceae or Enterococci
roborate the role played by the prevalence of aer- (12.12%) and Sa (8.59%).
obic microorganisms in causing vaginosis. In conclusion, the reduction of vaginal lactobacilli
From an epidemiological point of view, the mi- flora and the presence of an elevated number of
crorganisms most frequently involved in our polymorphonucleates in the vaginal discharge are
symptomatic population were Gardnerella vagi- important parameters to consider for the evalu-
nalis (26.7%), Candida species (12.1%), ation of the health status of the human female
Streptococcus agalactiae (9.2%) and the urogenital tract.
Enterobacteriaceae or the Enterococci as preva- Our results indicate that it is important to cul-
lent microorganisms (7.4%). Ureaplasma ure- ture the vaginal discharge for Sa and for preva-
alyticum (4.9%) was more frequent than lence of Enterobacteriaceae and Enterococci. The
Mycoplasma hominis (0.18%) and Chlamydia tra- microorganism most frequent involved in the fer-
chomatis (2.2%) and Trichomonas vaginalis tile symptomatic women population was Gv and
(0.54%) accounted for only 3% of the microor- C. Finally, the reasons for the prevalence of some
ganisms involved. microorganisms (Gv, Enterobacteriaceaea and
The influence of bacterial vaginosis on concep- Enterococci, Sa)) in the population of asympto-
tion and miscarriage has been studied (Kurki et matic women with infertility problems need to
al., 1992; Hay PE et al., 1994; Mc Gregor et al., be better analyzed especially after recent studies
1995; Hillier SI et al., 1995), and a predisposition on the correlation of idiopathic infertility and the
to preterm labour, postpartum endometritis and presence of cytokines in cervical levels in women
low birthweight infants was demonstrated. with an abnormal vaginal flora.
However, the influence of bacterial vaginosis on
in vitro fertilization and embryo implantation ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
during assisted reproduction treatment is con- We thank Mrs Mary Cassidy for language revision.
Gardnerella, Trichomonas vaginalis, Candida, Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum 75
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