Adherence of bacteria to vaginal epithelial cells at various times in the menstrual cycle

Abstract

Adherence of vaginal isolates of Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus species, group B streptococci, Gardnerella vaginalis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae to exfoliated vaginal epithelial cells was studied in 10 healthy, sexually active medical students. Studies were done pre- and postmenstrually and at midcycle for two consecutive menstrual cycles. The mean number of adherent bacteria per vaginal epithelial cell (range) was 3.4 (0 to 14) for E. coli, 60.5 (12 to 152) for Lactobacillus species, 54.8 (21 to 76) for group B streptococci, 67.4 (15 to 161) for G. vaginalis, and 58.9 (15 to 186) diplococci for N. gonorrhoeae. Adherence of G. vaginalis increased with increasing acidity of the test medium (pH 4 to 8). There were no significant differences in adherence to vaginal epithelial cells obtained at the various times in the menstrual cycle for any of the organisms (p greater than 0.05). The pattern and extent of adherence among the women was similar for each organism. In this in vitro model, adherence characteristics did not vary with the menstrual cycle.

Interaction of Gardnerella vaginalis and Vaginolysin with the Apical versus Basolateral Face of a Three-Dimensional Model of Vaginal Epithelium

“…Second, while the bacterial cell density of G. vaginalis in vaginal fluid can reach 10 2 to 10 4 CFU/ml in a healthy vaginal community, this often increases to 10 5 to 10 8 CFU/ml during BV (35)(36)(37). Third, it expresses a number of virulence factors that are thought to contribute to its pathogenicity, including adherence to vaginal epithelial cells, the capacity to form a biofilm, and the production of the pore-forming toxin vaginolysin (VLY) (35,(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47). VLY has been the most extensively studied virulence factor of G. vaginalis due to its conserved nature within the species and its association with BV (48).…”

Gardnerella vaginalis and Lactobacillus sp in liquid‐based cervical samples in healthy and disturbed vaginal flora using cultivation‐independent methods

“…Sobel et al and Peeters et al both showed that adherence of Gardnerella vaginalis depends on pH of the vagina. [20][21][22] Zariffard et al studied whether Gardnerella vaginalis, lactobacilli, and Mycoplasma hominis could be detected in vaginal specimens, and also their relation to each other using quantitative real-time PCR. They concluded that there is an inverse relationship between Gardnerella vaginalis and lactobacilli suggesting that these findings could be developed into a new method in detecting a disturbed vaginal microflora.…”

Antibiosis between bacteria isolated from the vagina of women with and without signs of bacterial vaginosis

“…Mdrdh & Westrom (13) reported a difference in adherence of group B streptococci and Neisseria gonorrhoeae on the one hand and lactobacilli and other indigenous flora isolates on the other. Sobel et al (21) in their in vitro system reported a similar adherence capacity of these bacteria.…”

“…The factors which lead to the change in flora have still not been properly identified. Changing adherence of lactobacilli and other vaginal microbes to the epithelial lining of the vagina may be one factor regulating the vaginal ecosystem (13,21,26). Eschenbach and co-workers ( 5 ) have postulated that H,02 production of lactobacilli plays an important role in the homeostasis of the vaginal flora.…”