A biochemical scheme for the species identification of endocervical lactobacilli was developed and evaluated with 10 isolates obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) and 106 endocervical isolates obtained from women reporting to a local venereal disease clinic and a local hospital clinic. The scheme consisted of two stages. Stage I included six tests and was tested and modifie...

OBJECTIVE Although non-ulcerative sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and bacterial vaginosis are implicated as cofactors in heterosexual HIV-1 transmission, the mechanisms have not been defined. Recent in vitro data suggest that interleukin (IL)-10 may increase susceptibility of macrophages to HIV-1 infection. Therefore, we performed this study to assess whether non-ulcerative STD are associat...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in women with Bartholin's gland abscess. SETTING Gynaecology Clinic of King Edward VIII Hospital, a large urban, referral hospital for the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal, serving an underprivileged population. METHODS Thirty consecutive women...

BACKGROUND Cervical Papanicolaou (Pap) smear screening is an effective method of detecting cytological changes in the cervix before they lead to cervical cancer. However, the quality of a Pap smear can be compromised by inflammatory exudate, inadequate cellularity or failure to sample the transformation zone. We evaluated the effect of routine cervical cleaning on Pap smear quality. METHODS I...

OBJECTIVE Progesterone (P(4)) has been clinically shown to prevent the recurrence of preterm birth. The mechanism(s) of action is unclear, but may involve modulation of the immunologic inflammatory response of the lower genital tract. We evaluated the effects of P(4) on interleukin-8 (IL-8) production by vaginal and cervical epithelial cells stimulated with bacterial species that are commonly a...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE The minimal deviation adeno-carcinoma (MDA) of the cervix is a rare disease. The misdiagnosis rate of this disease is relatively high and there is no standard treatment for it. This study was to evaluate clinicopathologic features, diagnosis, and treatment of MDA. METHODS Records of five patients with MDA treated in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yet-sen Universi...

4v HPV1⁄4quadrivalent human papillomavirus. *Using Australian Institute of Health and Welfare indicator 4.2, which includes high-grade squamous abnormality, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grade 2, CIN grade 3 or CIN not otherwise specified; high-grade endocervical abnormality, endocervical dysplasia; and high-grade endocervical abnormality, adenocarcinoma in situ (http:/ www.aihw.gov....

INTRODUCTION We evaluated colposcopy in the routine diagnostic workup of women with abnormal cervical cytology, as well as the diagnostic value of endocervical curettage material and biopsies taken from colposcopy-positive and colposcopy-negative quadrants of the cervix. MATERIAL AND METHODS This cross-sectional study included 297 nonpregnant women with abnormal cervical cytology and no prior...

We and others have shown that HIV-1 highly-exposed seronegative (HESN) female commercial sex workers (CSWs) maintain low genital inflammatory conditions to prevent HIV infection. HIV-1 interacts with toll-like receptors (TLR)-7/8 to induce interferon (IFN)-α, an important antiviral and immunomodulatory cytokine, which act together with interleukin (IL)-10, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-G and im...

OBJECTIVE To compare the reliability of ligase chain reaction (LCR) to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in detecting Chlamydia trachomatis endocervical infections. METHODS We conducted a prospective study of 486 patients at risk for chlamydial infection of the endocervix. We obtained two endocervical specimens from each patient and used LCR and PCR to detect C. trachomatis. Discrepant results ...