sedigheh livani

Preterm delivery is one of the leading causes of death in infants and children under 5 years of age. The causes of preterm delivery have not been properly identified, but some causes include infections such as bacterial vaginosis, which are very common among pregnant women. The present study was performed with aim to determine the role of bacteria associated with bacterial vaginosis in causing preterm delivery.

This case-control study was conducted in 2014-2015 on 100 women with term delivery and 100 women with preterm delivery in Shaheed Sayyad Shirazi hospital in Gorgan. DNA was extracted from vaginal samples and PCR was performed using specific primers for Atopobium vaginae, Gardnerella vaginalis and Mobiloncus spp. The data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 16) and Chi-square test and logistic regression. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Frequency of Gardnerella, Atopobium and Mobiluncus in term delivery were 86%, 15% and 25%, respectively and in preterm delivery were 74%, 14%, and 45%, respectively.  The distribution of Mobiloncus in the two groups of preterm and term delivery had a statistically significant relationship (P=0.003). The odds ratio (OR) of preterm delivery in women who were positive for Mobiloncus was 2.46 times (95% confidence interval 1.35-4.47) compared to those who were negative for Mobiloncus.

According to the findings of this study, the odds ratio of preterm delivery was significantly increased with the presence of Mobiloncus in the vagina. It is better to consider the methods to quickly detect this bacterium and thus prevent preterm delivery.

Growth of Mycoplasma in genital tract can cause problems such as infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), and preterm labor. This study was designed to evaluate the role of these bacteria in preterm labor among individuals in Gorgan city which is located in north of Iran.

The study included 100 women with complaints of pain in preterm labor before 37 weeks of pregnancy (case group) and 100 women with term labor (control group) who were referred to Shahid Sayyad Shirazi Teaching Hospital in Gorgan city, north of Iran. Vaginal swabs, collected from all of these women, were evaluated for genital Mycoplasma sp. by molecular method using specific primers with polymerization chain reaction (PCR). The comparison of results was done by conducting X2 and p<0.05 was considered significant.

Genital Mycoplasma was detected in 78 cases (39%) of 200 vaginal samples. Genital Mycoplasma colonization rates in the preterm and term samples were 60% and 18%, respectively, with relative risk of 2.05 (1.78-2.37) (p=0.001). The proportion of Ureaplasma parvum (44% and 15%), Ureaplasma urealyticum (11%, 3%), and Mycoplasma homins (5%, 0%) was significantly higher in women with preterm birth (PTB) than term labor. No cases of Mycoplasma genitalum were detected in this study.

There is a significant relationship between presence of genital Mycoplasma in vaginal secretion and the risk of preterm labor.