REVIEW

Life in the littoral zone: lactobacilli losing the plot

P Hay

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr Phillip Hay
Courtyard Clinic, St George’s Hospital, Blackshaw Road, London SW17 0QT, UK; phay{at}sghms.ac.uk

Recurrent bacterial vaginosis is a challenge for those affected by it, and their physicians. Our inability to prevent relapse after treatment, may be because of the flawed approach of using antibiotics to treat a condition that is an imbalance rather than an infection. The maintenance of a healthy lactobacillus population offers an approach to preventing relapse: the problem is how best to do this. Physiological approaches such as the use of hydrogen peroxide, lactic acid, and exogenous lactobacilli need to be explored further. The role of bacterial vaginosis as a risk factor for acquisition of HIV and other STIs is a further impetus to attempting to prevent bacterial vaginosis from recurring.

Abbreviations: BV, bacterial vaginosis; IL, interleukin; TGF-ß, transforming growth factor beta; STI, sexually transmitted infections; WSW, women who have sex with women

Keywords: lactobacillus; bacterial vaginosis

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