Incidence of Gardnerella vaginalis, Candida sp and human papilloma virus in cytological smears

Abstract

a b s t r a c t CONTEXT:In spite of the wide-ranging literature on the microbiology of normal and abnormal flora of the vagina, there are few studies on the relationship between human papilloma virus (HPV) and other vaginal microorganisms. OBJECTIVE:To analyze the frequency of infection by human papilloma virus (HPV) and other agents like Candida sp., Gardnerella vaginalis and Trichomonas vaginalis in cytological smears. DESIGN STUDY: Retrospective study SETTING:A public tertiary referral center. SAMPLE:An analysis of 17,391 cytologies from outpatients seen between January 1997 and August 1998. The control group was made up of patients in the same age group and same period with no cytological evidence of HPV infection. Patients with a diagnosis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) II or III were excluded from this analysis. MAIN MEASUREMENTS:The diagnosis of HPV infection was made in accordance with the criteria of Schneider et al. and the diagnosis of Gardnerella vaginalis was made with a finding of clue cells.RESULTS: 390 (2.24%) had alterations consistent with infection by HPV, sometimes associated with CIN I. The results showed that Gardnerella vaginalis was the most frequent agent in women with HPV infection (23.6% versus 17.4%; P <0.05), while in the control group the most frequent agent was Candida sp. (23.9% versus 13.8%; p <0.001). CONCLUSION:In spite of this study being based solely on cytological criteria, in which specific HPV and Gardnerella diagnostic tests were not used, the cytological smear is widely used in clinical practice and the data presented in this investigation show that there is an association between Gardnerella vaginalis and HPV infection. It remains to be established whether the microorganisms favor each other.

Prevalence Rate of Vulvovaginal Candidiasis and Identification of Candida Species in Women in Referred to Hamedan Hospitals 2013 - 2014, West of Iran

“…Meanwhile, findings of Buscemi et al 28.4% were near to our finding [10]. In the other hand this finding do not compare well with that of other countries such as Adad et al 17.3% -50% (during four decades), and Murta et al 17.8% which may be related to the climatic, geographical and cultural living conditions [11,12].…”

Prevalence of vulvovaginitis and bacterial vaginosis in patients with koilocytosis

“…Since koilocytosis usually represents the presence of human papillomavirus, [14][15][16] it is believed that the presence of the virus would, in some manner, be a cofactor for infections by other pathogenic or opportunistic microorganisms. 17 These opportunistic agents would be favored by imbalances in the vaginal flora. 18 According to Edwards, 1 Escherichia coli was the species most associated with bacterial vaginitis, although in the present series, it was found that Staphylococcus aureus was the agent most frequently causing it.…”

“…could activate the latent infection by HPV. 11,17 The use of molecular biology may be capable of ascertaining associations between genetic and immunological factors and the presence of potentially pathogenic microorganisms. 20 cONclusiONs On the basis of these results, it was found that the prevalence of fungal and parasitic vulvovaginitis seems to be higher in patients with koilocytosis, while the vaginal bacterial flora was not significantly associated with cell abnormalities.…”

Influence of human papillomavirus infection on the vaginal microbiome of women with immunocompetency

“…A positive relationship between BV and HPV was observed in a population of sex workers, which was very different from our sample group (21) . Murta et al (20) also found an association between vaginosis and papillomavirus; however, this study used a cytological diagnosis of HPV, which is significantly less sensitive than HC2.…”