Research on capsule for recolonizing lactobacillus after BV hits snag. (Used with Single dose of Metronidazole).

BANFF, ALTA. -- Plans to offer women with bacterial vaginosis an intravaginal capsule for recolonizing lactobacillus are on hold despite its 88% success rate in those who use it with metronidazole, Sharon Hillier, Ph.D., reported at the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Treatment of bacterial vaginosis (BV) is usually initially quite effective, but recolonization by lactobacillus occurs in only 20%-50% of women after treatment; the recurrence rate is high, said Dr. Hillier of the University of Pittsburgh's Magee-Womens Research Institute.

She and her associates conducted a National Institutes of Health--funded study aimed at improving long-term cure rates of BV by not only treating the condition, but also seeding the vagina with health-promoting bacteria. A total of 424 young, high-risk, unmarried women with Gram's stain--confirmed BV were randomly assigned to receive gelatin capsules containing either [10.sup.8] Lactobacillus crispatus or placebo intravaginally twice a day, three times a month. All were concurrently treated with a single 2-g dose of oral metronidazole.

After controlling for risk factors such as multiple partners, there were no differences in clinical cure rates between the placebo and lactobacillus groups, with roughly half of each group considered clinically cured at 30, 60, and 90 days after initiating treatment. Likewise, there were no differences between the groups in the cure rate on Gram's stain; roughly 60% in each group achieved cures according to Nugent's criteria.

There were significant differences in colonization rates, however. After 90 days of treatment, 88% of ...