A 10 mM concentration of lithium does not interfere with reverse transcription (RT) or PCR. Sampling of cervicovaginal fluid by vaginal washing, with lithium (10 mM) in the washing buffer as a marker of dilution, may be utilized to accurately determine in HIV-infected women, by quantitative RT-PCR, the genital shedding of acellular HIV RNA at the level of the mucosa itself.

Preterm delivery (PTD) is the leading cause of infant morbidity and mortality. Epidemiological association between PTD and various bacteria that are part of the vaginal microflora has been reported. Bacterial vaginosis is believed to be a risk factor for preterm delivery. The aim of the present study is to investigate the association between bacterial vaginosis, cervicovaginal fetal fibronectin...

The role of the cervicovaginal (CV) microbiome in regulating cervical function during pregnancy is poorly understood. Gardnerella vaginalis (G. vaginalis) is the most common bacteria associated with the diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis (BV). While BV has been associated with preterm birth (PTB), clinical trials targeting BV do not decrease PTB rates. It remains unknown if G. vaginalis is capabl...

BACKGROUND A Lactobacillus-dominated cervicovaginal microbiota (VMB) protects women from adverse reproductive health outcomes, but the role of L. iners in the VMB is poorly understood. Our aim was to explore the association between the cervicovaginal L. iners and L. crispatus proteomes and VMB composition. METHODS The vaginal proteomes of 50 Rwandan women at high HIV risk, grouped into four V...

Objective: This study was conducted in order to assess the prevalence of different cervicovaginal infections during pregnancy. Materials and methods: Totally 110 healthy pregnant women with complaints of vaginal symptoms in their third trimester of pregnancy were checked for vaginal candidiasis, bacterial vaginosis, vaginal trichomoniasis, streptococcus β hemoliticus, gonorrhea, syphilis, and i...

We compared the detection of carcinogenic human papillomavirus DNA in cervicovaginal specimens self-collected using a novel device to the detection in physician-collected cervical specimens from 137 women. The kappa value was 0.66 (95% confidence interval, 0.53 to 0.78), with an 83% overall test agreement and a 68% positive test agreement.