The flagellated parasite, Trichomonas vaginalis, is one of the most commonly encountered genital pathogens. Despite its frequent incidence, pathogenic mechanisms of T. vaginalis are not well characterized. The first section of this project involved the ability of T. vaginalis to grow in serum-free medium. By employing a cell culture system, it was demonstrated that T. vaginalis can exhibit growth in the absence of serum. McCoy cells utilized in the system did not appear to secrete growth factors responsible for this proliferation. The second part of this project involved establishment of a mouse model for T. vaginalis infection and subsequent employment of the model in determining the effects of T. vaginalis on vaginal flora and pH. After the endemic flora and pH in mice were identified, other factors which may have influenced flora, were investigated. Both estrogenization and inoculation of media appeared to have no effect on individual vaginal species, and only appeared to increase the number of species found per mouse. T. vaginalis infection did not appear to alter vaginal pH or flora in vivo. In vitro studies of the interaction between T. vaginalis and Lactobacillus acidophilus indicated that indirect factors, such as secreted products, may mediate the alteration in flora and pH evident during infection.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/5972 |
| Date | January 1990 |
| Creators | Meysick, Karen C. |
| Contributors | Garber, G., |
| Publisher | University of Ottawa (Canada) |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 126 p. |
Page generated in 0.002 seconds