<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

Genital tract ureaplasma infections are associated with numerous complications, ranging from inflammation, through infertility, to problematic pregnancy. In the course of ureaplasma infection, the risk of human papillomavirus infection increases. Diagnostic tests for urea-plasma infections are not always carried out, especially in women with the normal Nugent test results. The study attempts to check whether it is possible to find a prognostic indicator that could suggest a high abundance of ureaplasmas (≥ 104 CFU/ml) at the stage of the initial examination of vaginal discharge. Such a prognostic factor could qualify women for further tests to detect infections with these atypical bacteria. Six hundred twenty-seven white women with a score of 0–3 on the Nugent scale were tested, including 322 patients with a high abundance of ureaplasmas (≥ 104 CFU/ml) and 305 who tested negative for these bacteria. Ureaplasma infections were detected statistically significant in women who had few or no epithelial cells in the genital swab specimens compared to the results obtained for women with numerous or very numerous epithelial cells (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001). The risk of the high density of ureaplasmas was 38.7% higher with fewer or no epithelial cells than with high numbers. In patients aged 18–40 years with few or no epithelial cells, a high density of ureaplasmas (≥ 104 CFU/ml) was observed significantly more frequently (<italic>p</italic> = 0.003). Determining the number of epithelial cells in Gram-stained slides may be the prognostic indicator of ureaplasma infection. Testing for genital ureaplasma infection should be considered, especially in women of childbearing age (18–40 years), even if the Nugent test value is normal and pH ≤ 4.6.
</abstract>

Genital tract ureaplasma infections are associated with numerous complications, ranging from inflammation, through infertility, to problematic pregnancy. In the course of ureaplasma infection, the risk of human papillomavirus infection increases. Diagnostic tests for urea-plasma infections are not always carried out, especially in women with the normal Nugent test results. The study attempts to check whether it is possible to find a prognostic indicator that could suggest a high abundance of ureaplasmas (≥ 104 CFU/ml) at the stage of the initial examination of vaginal discharge. Such a prognostic factor could qualify women for further tests to detect infections with these atypical bacteria. Six hundred twenty-seven white women with a score of 0–3 on the Nugent scale were tested, including 322 patients with a high abundance of ureaplasmas (≥ 104 CFU/ml) and 305 who tested negative for these bacteria. Ureaplasma infections were detected statistically significant in women who had few or no epithelial cells in the genital swab specimens compared to the results obtained for women with numerous or very numerous epithelial cells (p < 0.001). The risk of the high density of ureaplasmas was 38.7% higher with fewer or no epithelial cells than with high numbers. In patients aged 18–40 years with few or no epithelial cells, a high density of ureaplasmas (≥ 104 CFU/ml) was observed significantly more frequently (p = 0.003). Determining the number of epithelial cells in Gram-stained slides may be the prognostic indicator of ureaplasma infection. Testing for genital ureaplasma infection should be considered, especially in women of childbearing age (18–40 years), even if the Nugent test value is normal and pH ≤ 4.6.

Vaginal Secretion Epithelium Count as a Prognostic Indicator of High Abundance of Ureaplasmas in Women with a Normal Nugent Score

Faculty of Medicine, Chair of Microbiology, Department of Molecular Medical Microbiology

Faculty of Medicine, Chair of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Department of Epidemiology

Polish Journal of Microbiology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Genital tract ureaplasma infections are associated with numerous complications, ranging from inflammation, through infertility, to problematic pregnancy. In...

Vaginal Secretion Epithelium Count as a Prognostic Indicator of High Abundance of Ureaplasmas in Women with a Normal Nugent Score

Article Category: Original Paper

Published Online: Feb 27, 2022

Page range: 19 - 26

Received: Jul 01, 2021

Accepted: Dec 07, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33073/pjm-2022-001

Keywords
epithelial cells, Nugent scale, leukocytes, pH

© 2022 Małgorzata Biernat-Sudolska et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Vaginal Secretion Epithelium Count as a Prognostic Indicator of High Abundance of Ureaplasmas in Women with a Normal Nugent Score

Article Category: Original Paper

Published Online: Feb 27, 2022

Page range: 19 - 26

Received: Jul 01, 2021

Accepted: Dec 07, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33073/pjm-2022-001

Keywordsepithelial cells, Nugent scale, leukocytes, pH

© 2022 Małgorzata Biernat-Sudolska et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
epithelial cells, Nugent scale, leukocytes, pH