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Infect Immun, May 1998, p. 1985-1989, Vol. 66, No. 5
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Adherence of Human Vaginal Lactobacilli to Vaginal Epithelial Cells and Interaction with Uropathogens

Soledad Boris,1 Juan E. Suárez,1 Fernando Vázquez,2 and Covadonga Barbés1,*

Area de Microbiología, Departamento de Biología Funcional, Instituto Universitario de Biotecnología de Asturias, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo,1 and Hospital Monte Naranco, Vázquez de Mella 107, 33012 Oviedo,2 Spain

Received 14 October 1997/Returned for modification 10 December 1997/Accepted 8 February 1998

Three strains of Lactobacillus, identified as Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus gasseri, and Lactobacillus jensenii, were selected from among 70 isolates from the vaginas of healthy premenopausal women for properties relevant to mucosal colonization or antagonism. All three self-aggregated and adhered to epithelial vaginal cells, displacing well-known vaginal pathogens, such as G. vaginalis, and inhibiting the growth in vitro of Escherichia coli and Streptococcus agalactiae. The surface components involved in self-aggregation appeared to be proteins for L. gasseri and lipoproteins for L. acidophilus and L. jensenii, as judged by susceptibility to treatment with appropriate degrading enzymes. The factors responsible for adherence to epithelial vaginal cells seemed to be glycoproteins (L. acidophilus and L. gasseri) and carbohydrate (L. jensenii). The receptors of the vaginal cells were glycolipids, which presumably were the targets of the competition observed between the lactobacilli and the pathogenic microbes.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Area de Microbiología, Departamento de Biología Funcional, Instituto Universitario de Biotecnología de Asturias, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Spain. Phone: 34-8-5104217. Fax: 34-8-5103148. E-mail: cbarbes{at}sauron.quimica.union.es.

Infect Immun, May 1998, p. 1985-1989, Vol. 66, No. 5
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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