Ricerc@Sapienza

Abstract. – OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the prevalence
of cervicovaginal Bacteria, group B Streptococcus
(GBS), Gardnerella vaginalis (GV), Candida
spp., Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Mycoplasma
hominis (MH) and Ureaplasma urealyticum
(UU) in pregnant women with and without diabetes
mellitus (DM).
PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cervicovaginal
swabs were gathered from 473 pregnant patients
divided into 127 diabetic and 346 non-diabetic. The
results were correlated to gestational age, parity
and glycemic control.
RESULTS: A higher prevalence of MH/UU
(p=0.012) was found in the diabetic patients. After
the 28th week of pregnancy, the prevalence for all
investigated microorganisms appeared similar
except for MH/UU (p=0.014). In multigravida, there
were statistical differences between two groups
in testing for Bacteria (p=0.015) and for MH/UU
(p=0.037). The diabetic condition correlated to the
state of multigravida in cases positive for Candida
spp. (p=0.049) and in those testing positive for at
least one microorganism (p=0.043). Pregnant
with a blood glucose > 92 have twice the risk of being
positive to a single microbiological test than
those with better glycemic control.
CONCLUSIONS: The higher prevalence of MH/
UU after the 28th weeks can be explained with the
physiologically reduced insulin tolerance characteristic
of this gestational period. Among the diabetic
testing positive to Candida spp. the statistically
significant association was observed only in
multigravida condition. These data suggest that
diabetic multigravida women are at increased risk
for Candida spp. infection in relation to the improper
glycemic control.