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Eighty-one patients with clinical diagnosis of aerobic vaginitis (AV) were included in the study. The patients were randomized for treatment, 45 with kanamycin (100 mg vaginal ovules for 6 days, consecutively) and 36 with meclocycline (35 mg vaginal ovules for 6 days, consecutively). The patients were examined before starting the study, 1-2 days after treatment and 30 days after the end of the study. At the first follow-up the patients showed different levels of symptom reduction. Reduction in the presence of leukocytes, vaginal mucosa burning and itching were statistically significant in the group treated with kanamycin with respect to the group treated with meclocycline. Moreover, there was also reduced isolation of Enterobacteriaeae (97%) in the group treated with kanamycin versus those treated with meclocycline (76%). At the second follow-up, vaginal homeostasis (normalization of pH and presence of lactobacilli) was more evident in the kanamycin-treated group. In conclusion, our data suggest that the topical use of kanamycin could be considered a specific antibiotic for the therapy of this new pathology.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are an economic burden for public health. The increasing prevalence of resistant bacteria which cause UTIs may be related to the inappropriate prescription of antibiotics. The aim of this preliminary study was to evaluate whether three different combinations of plant extracts plus d-mannose are effective in preventing the recurrence of UTIs. Three groups of patients received three combinations of plant extracts in conjunction with d-mannose. These were: berberine, arbutin and birch (group A); berberine, arbutin, birch and forskolin (group B); and proanthocyanidins (group C). The clinical recurrence of cystitis at the end of treatment and during follow-up was determined by comparison with baseline measurements using the microbiological assessment of urine samples, vaginal swabs and vaginal smear slides. Patients in groups A and B had a lower incidence of episodes of recurrent cystitis during treatment and follow-up, samples with a significantly lower median bacterial load and a reduction of the grade of lactobacillary flora compared to patients in group C.

Strains of uropathogenic E. coli are responsible for approximately 90% of community-acquired, uncomplicated cystitis, and fimbriae represent the adhesive factors enabling E. coli to be anchored to uroepithelial cells in the first step of the infectious process. Recently, a few studies have shown that a correlation between the consumption of cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) and prevention of UTI is related to the ability of proanthocyanidins to reduce the bacterial adhesion to uroepithelial cells. In this study we evaluate the inhibitory activity of urine of healthy women treated with tablets containing cranberry extract on the adhesiveness of E. coli to uroepithelial human cells. Two groups of 12 female volunteers each, aged between 18 and 65 years, were enrolled, one group with negative history and one group with positive history of recurrent cystitis. Subjects were treated with the active product or placebo in a random, cross-over, double-blinded sequence for one week in each of the two treatment sequences. Urine samples were collected at the beginning and the end of each study period. Tests of bacterial adhesiveness were performed with two strains of E. coli (ATCC 25922 and ATCC 35218) on HT1376 human bladder carcinoma cells. Significant reductions of bacterial adhesiveness were observed in women who received cranberry extract (-50.9%; p