Evaluation of the Bacterial Vaginal Flora of 20 Postmenopausal Women by Direct (Nugent Score) and Molecular (Polymerase Chain Reaction and Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis) Techniques

To monitor the bacterial vaginal microflora of postmenopausal women, several approaches were used: (1) Nugent scoring of Gram-stained smears from vaginal swabs; (2) testing for bacteria, using specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers; (3) PCR–denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of infectious diseases 2002-12, Vol.186 (12), p.1770-1780
Main Authors: Burton, Jeremy P., Reid, Gregor
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Bacteria
Bacteria - genetics
Bacteria - isolation & purification
Bacterial vaginosis
Biological and medical sciences
Colony Count, Microbial
Demand side management
DNA Primers
Electrophoresis
Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
Female
Flora
Gels
Gentian Violet
Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics
Humans
Lactobacillus
Lactobacillus - isolation & purification
Major Article
Medical sciences
Microorganisms
Middle Aged
Phenazines
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Postmenopause
Puberal and climacteric disorders (male and female)
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Vagina - microbiology
Vaginal Smears
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Summary:To monitor the bacterial vaginal microflora of postmenopausal women, several approaches were used: (1) Nugent scoring of Gram-stained smears from vaginal swabs; (2) testing for bacteria, using specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers; (3) PCR–denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis of total bacterial DNA, amplified using eubacterial and Lactobacillus-specific primers; and (4) sequence analysis of amplified DNA fragments of interest from denaturing gradient gels. Of 20 women studied, 70% had either intermediate-grade bacterial colonization or bacterial vaginosis (BV), as defined by Nugent criteria, at the first sampling point. Subjects with normal Nugent scores had ⩾1 species of Lactobacillus detected by sequencing of dominant DNA fragments from denaturing gradient gels generated using eubacterial primers. Samples from women with Nugent scores that indicated BV had varied bacterial DGGE profiles, which emphasizes the diverse nature of such infections. This study indicates that asymptomatic BV appears to be much more common than is currently perceived; these findings may have implications for the health of postmenopausal women
ISSN:0022-1899
1537-6613
DOI:10.1086/345761