Evaluation of vaginal malodor and efficacy of treatment by high performance ion exchange chromatography

✍ Scribed by Ronald Stanek; D. D. Glover; Sandra Mya; Bryan Larsen

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 327 KB
• Volume: 2
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0269-3879
• DOI: 10.1002/bmc.1130020208

✦ Synopsis

High performance ion exchange chromatography was employed to evaluate the presence of short chain organic acids in the vaginal fluid of a woman troubled by persistent foul vaginal odor, but who did not have typical bacterial vaginosis. The vaginal secretions from this patient were collected on a weighed cotton swab and eluted into water and extracted by acidified ether. Salts of the acids were back-extracted into aqueous solution and chromatographed on an H-form resin column and compared to commercially available standards. A strikingly large amount of caproic acid was found. The caproic acid disappeared after metronidazole therapy, and a subsequent follow-up chromatogram showed a predominance of lactic acid. The success of this technique in evaluating the present case suggests that such a method may prove useful in other types of vaginal infection. ~~ ~ ~