Impact of Dapivirine and Placebo Vaginal Rings on the Microbiota of Adolescent, Lactating, and Postmenopausal Females.

Background: A 25-mg dapivirine vaginal ring has been demonstrated to reduce risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) acquisition in nonpregnant adult women. In this secondary analysis of studies conducted in US adolescent, lactating, and postmenopausal females, vaginal microbiota was assessed prior to and after ring use, and between dapivirine and placebo ring users.

Methods: Vaginal fluid swabs were collected before and after product use for the evaluation of microbiota using Nugent criteria, quantitative culture, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

Susceptibility of endometrial isolates recovered from women with clinical pelvic inflammatory disease or histological endometritis to antimicrobial agents.

The CDC recommended outpatient treatment of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is an intramuscular dose of ceftriaxone plus 14 days of doxycycline, with or without metronidazole. European guidelines (2017) include moxifloxacin plus ceftriaxone as a first line regimen, particularly for women with Mycoplasma genitalium-associated PID. However, the susceptibility of bacteria recovered from the endometrium of women with PID to moxifloxacin is unknown.

Use of Nucleic Acid Amplification Testing for Diagnosis of Extragenital Sexually Transmitted Infections.

Nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) is the preferred method to detect and , but no commercial tests are cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use with extragenital swab samples.

Susceptibility of bacterial vaginosis (BV)-associated bacteria to secnidazole compared to metronidazole, tinidazole and clindamycin.

Secnidazole, a 5-nitroimidazole with a longer half-life, is structurally related to metronidazole and tinidazole. For treatment of bacterial vaginosis (BV), secnidazole is a suitable single-dose oral drug having a longer serum half-life than metronidazole. The objective of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial susceptibility of vaginal isolates of facultative and anaerobic bacteria to secnidazole, metronidazole, tinidazole and clindamycin.

Use of nucleic acid amplification testing for diagnosis of anorectal sexually transmitted infections.

Nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) has become the preferred method to detect Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, but no commercial tests are cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use with rectal swab samples.

Recalcitrance of bacterial vaginosis among herpes-simplex-virus-type-2-seropositive women.

Aim: The multifactorial etiology of bacterial vaginosis (BV) impedes development of effective treatment and prevention strategies. Herein, we evaluated the effects of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), a suspected BV risk factor, on vaginal flora composition.

Materials And Methods:   Correlations between HSV-2 infection and BV were prospectively explored among 12 HSV-2-seropositive women with asymptomatic BV who were asked to collect daily vaginal swab specimens for Gram stain analysis of vaginal flora and determination of HSV-2 shedding frequencies during the 1month before and after metronidazole therapy.

Interlaboratory reproducibility of female genital tract cytokine measurements by Luminex: implications for microbicide safety studies.

The interlaboratory reproducibility of cytokine measurements from cervicovaginal samples by Luminex has not been reported. Using cervicovaginal lavage specimens collected on three study days from 12 women participating in a Phase I microbicide study, we measured a panel of eight cytokines in three independent laboratories. Four (IFN-γ, IL-10, IL-17, and TNF) were below the limit of detection in the majority (85%) of samples in either two or all three laboratories, an observation that may guide analyte selection for future studies.

Biological and technical variables affecting immunoassay recovery of cytokines from human serum and simulated vaginal fluid: a multicenter study.

The increase of proinflammatory cytokines in vaginal secretions may serve as a surrogate marker of unwanted inflammatory reaction to microbicide products topically applied for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV-1. Interleukin (IL)-1beta and IL-6 have been proposed as indicators of inflammation and increased risk of HIV-1 transmission; however, the lack of information regarding detection platforms optimal for vaginal fluids and interlaboratory variation limit their use for microbicide evaluation and other clinical applications. This study examines fluid matrix variants relevant to vaginal sampling techniques and proposes a model for interlaboratory comparisons across current cytokine detection technologies.

Cytokines, pregnancy, and bacterial vaginosis: comparison of levels of cervical cytokines in pregnant and nonpregnant women with bacterial vaginosis.

Background: Pregnancy has been considered to be a time of relative immune compromise. Lower-genital-tract immune response appears to be influenced by pregnancy. The objective of this study was to compare, in pregnant versus nonpregnant women, endocervical proinflammatory-cytokine expression in response to bacterial vaginosis.

Systemic immune response to Trichomonas vaginalis infection during pregnancy.

Objective: The objective of this study was to characterize the systemic immune response in women with trichomoniasis in pregnancy as compared with uninfected women.

Study Design: A nested case control study was performed on 195 serum samples. Serum concentrations of cytokines, chemokines, and C-reactive protein (CRP) were compared between infected and uninfected women.

The associations between pelvic inflammatory disease, Trichomonas vaginalis infection, and positive herpes simplex virus type 2 serology.

Objective: Roles for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections in pelvic inflammatory disease pathogenesis are well delineated; however, the etiologic contributions of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and Trichomonas vaginalis have been underexplored.

Goal: The goal of this study was to investigate the association between acute and plasma cell endometritis, fallopian tube obstruction, HSV-2 serology, and T. vaginalis infection.

Genital tract shedding of herpes simplex virus type 2 in women: effects of hormonal contraception, bacterial vaginosis, and vaginal group B Streptococcus colonization.

Background: Genital infections due to herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) are characterized by frequent reactivation and shedding of the virus and by the attendant risk of transmission to sexual partners. We investigated the effects of vaginal coinfections and hormonal contraceptive use on genital tract shedding of HSV-2 in women.

Methods: A total of 330 HSV-2-seropositive women were followed every 4 months for a year.

Detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae by strand displacement amplification and relevance of the amplification control for use with vaginal swab specimens.

Vaginal swab specimens may be preferable to cervical swab or urine specimens for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae because of the ease of specimen collection and transport. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether vaginal swab specimens are equivalent to cervical swab specimens for the detection of N. gonorrhoeae and C.