Overall , lactobacilli were beneficial for the treatment of patients with bacterial vaginosis .
No clear benefit was seen for c and idiasis or urinary tract infection .
In conclusion , the use of certain lactobacillus strains such as L. rhamnosus GR-1 and L. reuteri for prevention and treatment of recurrent urogenital infection is promising , especially for recurrent bacterial vaginosis .
Abstract Probiotics are increasingly being used to treat and prevent urogenital infections .
However , a critical assessment of their efficacy in major urogenital infections is lacking .
We report the results of a systematic review to determine the efficacy of probiotics for prevention or treatment of three major urogenital infections : bacterial vaginosis , vulvovaginal c and idiasis , and urinary tract infection .
Therapy of bacterial vaginosis using exogenously-applied Lactobacilli acidophili and a low dose of estriol: a placebo-controlled multicentric clinical trial.
The efficacy of vaginal tablets ( Gynoflor ) containing 50 mg of a lyophilisate of viable , H2O2-producing Lactobacillus acidophilus ( at least 10(7 ) colony forming units/tablet ) and 0.03 mg estriol ( CAS 50 - 27 - 1 ) for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis ( BV ) was tested in a multicentric , r and omised , placebo-controlled clinical trial with parallel-group design . 32 non-menopausal women with positive diagnoses for BV , including intermediate cases , participated in the trial . Patients were diagnosed using the classical clinical parameters of BV according to Amsel and using microscopic analysis of the Gram-stained vaginal smear . A positive clinical diagnosis of BV required at least 2 of the following 4 clinical criteria to be positive ; greyish-white , homogeneous leukorrhea ; vaginal pH > 4.5 ; KOH test for volatile amines ; presence of clue cells . Microscopic diagnosis of BV , on the other h and , was obtained if examination of the Gram-stained vaginal smear showed less than 6 lactobacilli per field of view ( 1000 x magnification ) . This corresponds to another definition of BV as " lactobacilli deficiency syndrome " . The efficacy of the 6-day therapy with 1 - 2 vaginal tablets daily was evaluated using both clinical and microscopic analysis . Using Amsel 's classical clinical parameters of BV , the cure rate ( defined as < or = 1 of the 4 clinical criteria positive ) two weeks after the start of therapy was 77 % in the verum group and 25 % in the placebo group . Four weeks after the start of therapy , the cure rate was 88 % in the verum group and 22 % in the placebo group . At both control examinations , the cure rate for the test group was significantly higher than that for the placebo group ( p < 0.05 , Fisher 's exact test , 2-sided , significance level 0.05 ) . In addition , the trial showed that after 6 days of treatment with the test preparation , the lactobacilli were capable of recolonising the vagina . A significant increase in the number of lactobacilli was observed in the Gram-stained vaginal smear for the patient group treated with the test preparation compared to the placebo patient group ( p < 0.05 , Fisher 's exact test , 2-sided , significance level 0.05 ) , two and four weeks after the start of the 6-day treatment
Overall , lactobacilli were beneficial for the treatment of patients with bacterial vaginosis .
No clear benefit was seen for c and idiasis or urinary tract infection .
In conclusion , the use of certain lactobacillus strains such as L. rhamnosus GR-1 and L. reuteri for prevention and treatment of recurrent urogenital infection is promising , especially for recurrent bacterial vaginosis .
Abstract Probiotics are increasingly being used to treat and prevent urogenital infections .
However , a critical assessment of their efficacy in major urogenital infections is lacking .
We report the results of a systematic review to determine the efficacy of probiotics for prevention or treatment of three major urogenital infections : bacterial vaginosis , vulvovaginal c and idiasis , and urinary tract infection .