Vaginal Lactobacillus microbiota of healthy women in the late first trimester of pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to characterise the dominant species of Lactobacillus colonising the vagina of healthy pregnant women, to examine some of their phenotypic and genotypic properties, and to gain a better understanding of the potential role of species, which might be associated with infection-free status. DESIGN: A prospective descriptive cohort study. SETTING: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medical University of Vienna and Medical School, Vienna, Austria. SAMPLE: A total of 200 women in the late first trimester of pregnancy without clinical signs of vaginal infection were included in the study. Of these, 126 women were found to have a normal vaginal flora based on Gram stain. METHODS: Culture probes from those 126 women were further processed for identification of Lactobacillus species. Overall, 168 colonies from 84 women were identified as belonging to the Lactobacillus genus. Based on the combined results of microbiological methods and genus-specific, multiplex, and species-specific polymerase chain reaction, lactobacilli were recovered from 72 women. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Identification of Lactobacillus species of the vaginal flora of healthy pregnant women. RESULTS: The most frequently occurring species were Lactobacillus crispatus and Lactobacillus gasseri, followed by Lactobacillus jensenii and Lactobacillus rhamnosus. CONCLUSIONS: Our results may have implications on the composition and on the use of Lactobacillus preparations for the prevention of recurrent vaginal infection.

[Treatment of acute diarrhea in infants and young children with a new formulated oral rehydration solution]. / Behandlung akuter Diarrhöen bei Säuglingen und Kleinkindern mit einer neu zusammengesetzten oralen Rehydrierungslösung.

49 infants and children with acute diarrhea with mild to moderate dehydration have been rehydrated orally with a newly composed oral rehydration solution. This solution differs from the traditional WHO recommended rehydration solution in a lower sodium content of 60 mval/l and replacement of bicarbonate 25 mval/l by an equimolar amount of citrate. The taste of the solution was improved by addition of flavour. All infants and children - including 8 infants less than 3 months of age - were successfully rehydrated. The solution was well accepted; no side effects have been observed. The sodium content remained normal in all patients.

[Myocardial contractility in newborns following tokolysis with beta-sympathicomimetics]. / Myokardiale Kontraktilität Neugeborener nach Tokolyse mit Beta-Sympathikomimetika.

Using non-invasive methods (carotic pulse sphygmography, electro- and phonocardiography) the effect of maternal tokolysis with beta-sympathicomimetics (Fenoterol in combination with Verapamil) on the systolic intervals in neonates was investigated as a global measurement of cardiac capacity. In 39 newborns (gestational age 35.1 +/- 1.7 weeks), after an average duration of tokolysis of 37.5 days (1-210) with normal birth and normal primary adaptation, the findings as compared with a control group of 22 neonates were as follows: increased pre-ejection time (80.7 +/- 20 as compared with 67.5 +/- 7.5 ms), increased intraventricular time (38.6 +/- 14.3 as compared with 34.9 +/- 7.0 ms) and a higher quotient of pre-ejection and left-ventricular ejection time (0.476 +/- 0.127 as compared with 0.369 +/- 0.06). There are statistically established correlations with the duration of tokolysis. The findings suggest a myocardial is as a rule successfully compensated for by an increase in heart rate, and which disappears in the course of the first week of life.