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Lactobacillus Vaginal Microbiota Of Women Attending A Reproductive Health Care Service In Benin City, Nigeria., Kingsley Anukam, Emmanuel Osazuwa, Ijeoma Ahonkhai, Gregor Reid

Kingsley C Anukam

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine whether Lactobacillus species found in African women differ substantially to those of Caucasian decent, described in previous studies. The vaginal microbiota play an important role in female health, and when the naturally dominant lactobacilli are displaced resulting in bacterial vaginosis (BV), the host is more at risk of acquiring sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. METHODS: Vaginal samples were collected from 241 healthy, pre-menopausal Nigerian women, which were then Gram stained for Nugent scoring. Microbial DNA was extracted, amplified using PCR and Lactobacillus primers, and processed by Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE). …