Detection of viral and bacterial infections in women with normal and abnormal colposcopy

Signs and symptoms of sexually-transmitted diseases (STD) do not allow any etiological diagnosis in women. Colposcopic findings are seldom pathognomic. Consequently, the microbiology laboratory with the recent availability of molecular diagnosti c tools is required to detect the infectious bacterial and/or virai agents involved in STD. In cervical samples of women submitted to gynaecological screening for past or present signs and symptoms of inflammation and with different colposcopic findings, we searched by molecular approaches Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma genitalium, herpes simplex virus type l and 2, adenovirus and 45 genotypes of papillomaviruses and, by cultura! methods Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum. Colposcopy permitted us to divide the studied population into three groups: 48 women had negative colposcopic findings; 50 presented signs of flogosis and 100 resulted positive for an abnormal transformation zone (ANTZ) and/or for HPV colposcopic findings. Results obtained by microbi o logica! assays indicated that the prevalence of infectious agents did not always correlate with colposcopy. Double and triple infections were found in groups 2 and 3, with mycoplasmas being the most common microrganisms present in association and quite almost copresent with papillomaviruses.