Author(s)

Filippo Murina^*, Franco Vicariotto

Lower Genital Tract Disease Unit, V. Buzzi Hospital, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.

Background: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common urogenital disease in women, affecting about 19% - 24% of them in reproductive ages annually and after treatment, a single recurrence or more may occur in up to 58% of women within 12 months. Objective: The aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of a new orally administered food supplement, containing different probiotic strains, on women of childbearing age after the antibiotic treatment when compared with no probiotic intake. Methods: A prospective study was undertaken on 62 patients with BV. All patients were cured with metronidazole vaginal formulations (5 g of 0.75% gel once daily for 5 days or 500 mg ovules once daily for 7 days), then after was offered the option of using a new an orally administered food supplement containing: Lactobacillus plantarum PBS067, Lactobacillus rhamnosus LRH020 and Bifidobacterium animalis lactis BL050, with a total viability of 3 × 10⁹ CFU/capsule (Intimique^® Femme). Among these women, 50 accepted to use the new orally food supplement, while 25 patients decided to use only metronidazole (control group). Results: The recurrence rate of BV after treatment with Intimique^® Femme was about 16%, compared to 40% in the control group. The incidence of abnormal vaginal microbiota decreased in both groups, but it was significantly higher in the Intimique^® Femme group at the end of treatment. Conclusion: This study showed that, in case of BV diagnosis, the complementary treatment of a strain-specific probiotic complex after antibiotics prophylaxis, is mandatory to reduce potential recurrences and cyclic use of further antibiotics.

Bacterial Vaginosis, Recurrent Vaginitis, Biofilm, Lactobacillus

Murina, F. and Vicariotto, F. (2019) Evaluation of an Orally Administered Multistrain Probiotic Supplement in Reducing Recurrences Rate of Bacterial Vaginosis: A Clinical and Microbiological Study. Advances in Infectious Diseases, 9, 151-161. doi: 10.4236/aid.2019.93011.