Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Feb 28:7:130-135.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijregi.2023.02.007. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Prevalence and metronidazole resistance of Trichomonas vaginalis among Japanese women in 2021

Yumiko Saito-Nakano  1   2 , Yuko Umeki  1   2 , Chikako Shimokawa  1 , Koichi Kobayashi  3 , Koichi Hashimoto  3 , Toshio Takada  3 , Chinami Makii  3 , Rie Hasebe  3 , Yuri Yoshida  3 , Riko Nakajima  3 , Seiki Kobayashi  1 , Hajime Hisaeda  1
Affiliations

Prevalence and metronidazole resistance of Trichomonas vaginalis among Japanese women in 2021

Yumiko Saito-Nakano et al. IJID Reg. .

Abstract

Objectives: Trichomonas vaginalis is the most prevalent sexually transmitted parasite worldwide. However, no surveillance system exists to monitor T. vaginalis cases and drug resistance in Japan.

Methods: Cervical cytology vaginal swabs were collected from women with and without suspected symptoms of T. vaginalis infection; these swabs were used for the detection of T. vaginalis, human papillomavirus (HPV), and Candida albicans using specific polymerase chain reaction. Clinical isolates of T. vaginalis were subjected to metronidazole susceptibility tests using the previously reported minimal lethal concentration (MLC) and newly established half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values.

Results: The prevalence of T. vaginalis in the study population was 4.2% (5/119; 95% confidence interval [Cl], 1.5-9.7). Additionally, asymptomatic infection constituted 60% (3/5) of all cases of T. vaginalis infection. All T. vaginalis-positive patients were coinfected with HPV but not C. albicans. Five clinical T. vaginalis isolates showed metronidazole susceptibility, which was evaluated using MLC values. The quantitative IC50 values revealed that two of these clinical isolates exhibited a decreased metronidazole susceptibility.

Conclusion: This is the first study to demonstrate the prevalence of T. vaginalis in Japanese women. The IC50 values of metronidazole against T. vaginalis enabled the precise and quantitative evaluation of metronidazole-susceptible T. vaginalis.

Keywords: Candida albicans; Clinical isolates; Metronidazole resistance; Prevalence; STIs; Trichomoniasis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this study.

Figures

Image, graphical abstract
Graphical abstract
Figure 1
Figure 1
The half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of MTZ for five clinical isolates and the G3 reference strain. The IC50 values were evaluated as the cell viability after 48 h treatment with metronidazole (MTZ) under anaerobic (A, C) and aerobic (B, D) conditions. Two clinical isolates, Tv57 and Tv67, showed higher IC50 values than G3 under anaerobic (A) and aerobic (B) conditions. Data analysis was conducted using GraphPad Prism version 9 software. The bar graph shows the means and standard deviations of three independent experiments under anaerobic (C) and aerobic (D) conditions. Statistical significance was calculated using Student's t-test; *, p-value < 0.05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kissinger P. Trichomonas vaginalis: a review of epidemiologic, clinical and treatment issues. BMC Infect Dis. 2015;15:307. doi: 10.1186/s12879-015-1055-0. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Murray CJ, Vos T, Lozano R, Naghavi M, Flaxman AD, Michaud C, et al. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 291 diseases and injuries in 21 regions, 1990-2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet. 2012;380:2197–2223. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61689-4. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ngobese B, Singh R, Han KSS, Tinarwo P, Mabaso N, NS Abbai. Detection of metronidazole resistance in Trichomonas vaginalis using uncultured vaginal swabs. Parasitol Res. 2022;121:2421–2432. doi: 10.1007/s00436-022-07548-x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Abdel-Magied AA, El-Kholya EI, Abou El-Khair SM, Abdelmegeed ES, Hamoudaa MM, Mohamed SA, et al. The genetic diversity of metronidazole susceptibility in Trichomonas vaginalis clinical isolates in an Egyptian population. Parasitol Res. 2017;116:3125–3130. doi: 10.1007/s00436-017-5627-3. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Satterwhite CL, Torrone E, Meites E, Dunne EF, Mahajan R, Ocfemia MC, et al. Sexually transmitted infections among US women and men: prevalence and incidence estimates, 2008. Sex Transm Dis. 2013;40:187–193. doi: 10.1097/OLQ.0b013e318286bb53. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources