evaluation of an immunochromatographic strip (xenostrip –tv) test for diagnosis of vaginal trichomoniasis compared with wet mount and pcr assay

background: trichomoniasis, caused by trichomonas vaginalis , is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections in the world. diagnosis of t. vaginalis is performed by different methods, including wet mount, culture, serological methods and pcr, which required laboratory equipments and expert laboratory personnel. the aim of this study was evaluation of immunochromatographic strip test (xenostrip-tv) for diagnosis of vaginal trichomoniasis compared with wet mount and pcr assay. methods: in this prospective study vaginal swabs were obtained from 100 women with genital complaints demanding a speculum examination, referred to imam khomeini and amir kabir hospitals in ahwaz, khuzestan province. samples were first examined by wet mount and xenostrip-tv. pcr assay was performed in the next step using tvk3 and tvk7 primers initially. the positive samples were then confirmed by the second pcr assay using tva5-1 and tva6 primers. results : pcr with tva5-1 and tva6 primers was determined as gold standard. the wet mount as well as xenostrip-tv sensitivity and specificity were 73.3% and 100%, respectively in comparison with gold standard. the sensitivity and specificity of pcr with primers tvk3 and tvk7 were also determined as 100% and 96.6%, respectively. the infection rates were 14% for wet mount and xenostrip-tv, 21% for pcr with primers tvk3 plus tvk7 and 19% with the gold standard pcr using tva5-1 and tva6 primers. conclusion: xenostrip- tv could be used for diagnosis of vaginal trichomoniasis in regions with no laboratory diagnostic facilities.