Genital tract infection and associated factors affect the reproductive outcome in fertile females and females undergoing in vitro fertilization

Moragianni,Dimitra; Dryllis,George; Andromidas,Panagiotis; Kapeta-Korkouli,Rachil; Kouskouni,Evangelia; Pessach,Ilias; Papalexis,Petros; Kodonaki,Antigoni; Athanasiou,Nikolaos; Pouliakis,Avraham; Baka,Stavroula

doi:10.3892/br.2019.1194

Genital tract infection and associated factors affect the reproductive outcome in fertile females and females undergoing in vitro fertilization

Authors:
- Dimitra Moragianni
- George Dryllis
- Panagiotis Andromidas
- Rachil Kapeta-Korkouli
- Evangelia Kouskouni
- Ilias Pessach
- Petros Papalexis
- Antigoni Kodonaki
- Nikolaos Athanasiou
- Avraham Pouliakis
- Stavroula Baka
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Affiliations: Department of Microbiology, ‘Aretaieion’ General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 11528, Greece, Department of Pathology and Physiology, ‘Laikon’ General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 11527, Greece, The Fifth Orthopedic Clinic of Hospital for Accidents and Rehabilitation of Injured and Disabled People General Hospital, Athens 14561, Greece, Second Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology, ‘ATTIKO’ University Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 12462, Greece, Laboratory of Microbiology, ‘Laikon’ General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 11527, Greece, General Hospital of Athens, ‘Spiliopoulio’, Athens 11521, Greece, Second Department of Pathology, University General Hospital ‘ATTIKON’, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 12462, Greece
Published online on: February 15, 2019 https://doi.org/10.3892/br.2019.1194
Pages: 231-237
Copyright: © Moragianni et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Assisted reproductive techniques including in vitro fertilization (IVF) are being used increasingly worldwide and screening for genital tract infections (GTIs) is recommended prior to treatment as their presence may affect the success rate of IVF. The current study aimed to assess the possible associations between GTI‑associated factors and reproductive outcome in a group of reproductive age fertile females and infertile females receiving IVF. A total of 111 infertile women enrolled in an IVF programme (Group A) and 104 fertile women (mothers of at least one child; Group B) underwent microbiological screening of vaginal and cervical samples. All samples were cultured using different protocols for aerobic pathogens, bacterial vaginosis (BV), Ureaplasma urealyticum, Mycoplasma hominis, Chlamydia trachomatis and human papilloma virus (HPV). Although each group were comparable in age, more infertile women were >30 years (P=0.0064), had a higher education level (P=0.0001) and were smokers (P=0.007). Only BV (P=0.0013) was more prevalent in Group A. Of the 111 infertile females who were scheduled for IVF, 32 females had a successful pregnancy (Group C) and 79 females exhibited IVF failure (Group D). Tubal factor (P=0.012), estradiol‑2 (E2) levels <2,500 pg/ml (P=0.0009) and Mycoplasma infection (P=0.003) were identified to be the strongest predictors of IVF failure. The current study determined certain GTI‑associated factors that may contribute to infertility in Greek females of reproductive age as well as other risk factors associated with failure in patients undergoing IVF. Further studies are required to confirm this conclusion.

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