Monitoring Sexually Transmitted Infections in Cervicovaginal Exfoliative Samples in Mexican Women

Abstract

Background. Globally, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) are a major cause of morbidity in sexually active individuals, having complications in reproduction health and quality of life. In concordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the study aimed to investigate the prevalence of Candida spp., Ureaplasma spp., Trichomonas vaginalis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, HSV, and Mycoplasma spp. from cervicovaginal samples and to correlate them with the gynecological history of the patients. Methods. Our analytical, prospective, and cross-sectional study included 377 women who participated in a reproductive health campaign during 2015–2016. Anthropometric and gynecological variables were obtained. Cervicovaginal specimens were collected and analyzed with a multiplex in-house PCR to detect Candida spp., Ureaplasma spp., Trichomonas vaginalis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, HSV, Mycoplasma spp., and Chlamydia trachomatis. Results. The positive cases were 175/377 (46.4%) to at least one of the microorganisms. The most frequent pathogen detected in this population was Ureaplasma spp. (n = 111, 29.4%), followed by Mycoplasma spp. (n = 56, 14.9%) and Candida spp. (n = 47, 12.5%); 33.7% of the positive cases were single infections, whereas 12.7% had coinfection. The multiplex PCR assay was designed targeting nucleotide sequences. Conclusions. Our data demonstrated that monitoring STIs among asymptomatic patients will encourage target programs to be more precisely and effectively implemented, as well as make these programs more affordable, to benefit society by decreasing the prevalence of STIs.

Unveiling Hidden Risks: Intentional Molecular Screening for Sexually Transmitted Infections and Vaginosis Pathogens in Patients Who Have Been Exclusively Tested for Human Papillomavirus Genotyping

“…As stated in the methodology, the expected band for each pathogen was sequenced to verify the accuracy of the findings. The Basic STI Panel was standardized, according to a prior study [8].…”

“…For the detection of Candida spp., Ureaplasma spp., Trichomonas vaginalis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, HSV 1 and 2, and Mycoplasma spp., we used the methodology previously reported [8]. This panel was named the Basic STI Panel.…”

“…aureus and pGEM/Klebsiella spp., as positive synthetic controls. For the Basic STI Panel, we used the constructs mentioned in our previous study [8].…”

“…Once the single target PCR system succeeded, we performed the in-house multiplex PCR assay, mixing the primers for the Complementary STI Panel (Supplementary Table S1). Due to the variability of primers Tm and to increase the specificity, we performed a touch-down PCR, as described previously [8].…”

Modern approaches to restoring vaginal microbiocenosis

“…Так, найчастіше домінуючими є представники групи Lactobacillus acidophilus: L. crispatus, L. jensenii, L. gasseri та L. iners [20]. Із них найчастіше у здорових жінок у складі вагінальної мікрофлори виявляють L. crispatus [21,22], а у разі бактеріального вагінозу -L. gasseri та L. iners [11].…”