Robert C. Brunham

Mucopurulent cervicitis--the ignored counterpart in women of urethritis in men.

Among 100 randomly selected nonmenstruating women attending a clinic for sexually transmitted diseases, we assessed objective criteria for the clinical diagnosis of mucopurulent cervicitis. Visualization of yellow mucopurulent endocervical secretions on a white swab and the presence of 10 or more polymorphonuclear leukocytes per microscopical field (at a magnification of 1000) in satisfactory gram-stained endocervical smears were independently correlated with cervical Chlamydia trachomatis infection. Neither finding correlated with gonorrhea or genital herpes, although herpes caused characteristic cervical ulcerations. C. trachomatis was isolated from the cervix of 20 of 40 women with mucopurulent cervicitis but of only 2 of 60 without it. The overall prevalence of mucopurulent cervicitis among women attending the clinic (40 per cent) exceeded that of nongonococcal urethritis among men in the same clinic, and the prevalence of C. trachomatis infection was higher in mucopurulent cervicitis than in nongonococcal urethritis, a condition that is conventionally treated with tetracyclines. These findings support recommendations for the treatment of mucopurulent cervicitis and should guide the selective use of confirmatory diagnostic tests for C. trachomatis infection.

Prevalence and manifestations of endometritis among women with cervicitis.

Thirty-five women referred from a clinic treating sexually transmitted diseases, because of suspected cervicitis, were studied for the presence of endometritis by transcervical endometrial biopsies and cervical and endometrial cultures. Fourteen (40%) of the patients had histologic evidence of endometritis. Findings that significantly correlated with endometritis included a history of intermenstrual vaginal bleeding, the presence of Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, or Streptococcus agalactiae in the cervix, and the presence of serum antibodies to C. trachomatis or to Mycoplasma hominis.

Randomized treatment of mucopurulent cervicitis with doxycycline or amoxicillin

A randomized trial of doxycycline versus amoxicillin was performed to treat mucopurulent cervicitis. Chlamydia trachomatis , the most common single agent associated with mucopurulent cervicitis, was isolated from 30 (47%) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae from five (8%) of 64 patients. Patients were followed up for 3 months, and the effect of treatment was assessed by clinical (presence of endocervical mucopus, cervicitis severity score, and number of polymorphonuclear leukocytes on Gram-stained smears of endocervical secretions) and microbiologic criteria. Doxycycline and amoxicillin were equally effective for treating chlamydial and nonchlamydial cervicitis. However; endocervical mucopus was still present in 18% of the patients in both treatment groups after 2 months and in 23% of the doxycycline group and 33% of the amoxicillin group after 3 months of therapy. The cause of persistent/recurrent mucopus after antimicrobial treatment was not explained by relapse or reinfection with Chlamydia trachomatis , Neisseria gonorrhoeae , genital mycoplasmas, or Gardnerella vaginalis , but persistence was associated with the degree of cervical ectopy.

Depression of the lymphocyte transformation response to microbial antigens and to phytohemagglutinin during pregnancy.

Lymphocyte transformation (LT) responses to Chlamydia trachomatis, to four other microbial antigens, and to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) were studied in 201 women during pregnancy and/or 3-18 wk postpartum. The LT responses to all stimulants tested were significantly depressed during pregnancy when compared with postpartum LT responses. This difference occurred whether LT assays were performed in autologous or pooled heterologous plasma collected from nonpregnant donors. Among women studied in the third trimester and again postpartum, the autologous LT stimulation index (LTSI) rose from 1.7 to 3.4 (P less than 0.001) with C. trachomatis elementary body antigen, from 3.7 to 7.9 (P less than 0.001) with Candida albicans cell wall extract, from 4.5 to 7.8 (P = 0.008) with streptokinase-streptodornase, from 1.7 to 3.0 (P = 0.007) with fluid tetanus toxoid, from 1.7 to 2.8 (P = 0.046) with mumps virus skin test antigen, from 35.5 to 87.0 (P less than 0.001) with PHA (2 micrograms/ml), and from 107.2 to 181.9 (P = 0.007) with PHA (10 micrograms/ml). LT responses to C. trachomatis were compared in 52 pregnant women and 58 nonpregnant women; all the women had C. trachomatis isolated at the time of LT assay. Using either plasma supplement, the mean LTSI with C. trachomatis antigen was significantly higher in nonpregnant women than in pregnant women, regardless of trimester (P less than 0.001). Among 12 women who were serially tested and remained culture positive for C. trachomatis throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period, the mean autologous LTSI rose from 1.9 in the third trimester to 7.8 postpartum (P = 0.0004). These data are the first to show that the immune response to an ongoing bacterial infection is depressed during pregnancy and to definitively document the depressed LT responses during human pregnancy.

Therapy of cervical chlamydial infection.

The treatment of cervical Chlamydia trachomatis infection in nonpregnant women was evaluated in a double-blind randomized study. Objective criteria were used to assess the response of cervicitis to therapy. Fifty patients were treated with tetracycline hydrochloride, 500 mg orally four times daily, and 50 patients were treated with rosaramicin, 250 mg orally four times daily, both for 7 days. Both agents were highly effective in eradicating C trachomatis. Both produced significant improvement in objective signs of cervicitis: eliminating mucopurulent endocervical discharge and edema of ectopy, and decreasing the clinical severity score of cervicitis. This trial shows that the 1-week course of tetracycline hydrochloride currently recommended for treatment of chlamydial urethritis in men is also highly effective for the treatment of chlamydial cervical infection in women. Rosaramicin, a macrolide antibiotic, was equally effective but produced a higher rate of gastrointestinal side effects.