ECOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO ASSESSING VAGINAL MICROBIOCENOSIS IN REPRODUCTIVE-AGED WOMEN

Objective. To investigate the vaginal microflora in clinically healthy women of reproductive age and the peroxide-forming ability of lactobaccili isolated from the vagina and their antagonistic activity against group B streptococcus. Materials and methods. Classical microbiological and current anaerobic techniques were applied. The peroxide-forming ability of lactobaccili was revealed using the method described by F.W. Kraus and modified by the authors and their antagonistic activity against group B streptococcus was determined by the delayed antagonism method. Results. If lactobaccili are three or more orders of magnitude more prevalent than other vaginal microorganisms, there is a considerable decrease in the diversity and number of other representatives of vaginal biocenosis and a significance increase in the frequency of peroxide-forming lactobaccili. There are no differences in the detection rate of antagonistically active lactobacillus strains in the compared groups. Conclusion. The predominance of lactobacilli over other microorganisms by three or more orders of magnitude may be arbitrarily regarded as the favorable status of vaginal microbiocenosis.

vaginal symbiotic microflora, peroxide-forming lactobacilli, antagonistic activity, serogroup B streptococci, predominance of lactobacilli, normal flora criteria