Comparative pathogenicity of trichomonas vaginalis isolated from symptomatic & asymptomatic cases

Pathogenicity of 19 isolates of T.vaginalis obtained from vaginal specimens were studied in the murine model by intraperitoneal route. Sixteen isolates were recovered from the females with various clinical conditions and 3 isolates were from normal healthy females. Pathogenicity level of these isolates were studied by inoculating 5 mice per isolates through intraperitoneal route and the animals were sacrificed on tenth day post-inoculation. In general, all the isolates recovered produced infection in mice. On comparison with the reference strain obtained from Hoechst India Ltd., seven isolates recovered from symptomatic cases and one strain from healthy females produced severe infection in mice. Though variation in pathogenicity level was observed among the isolates, a definite correlation between clinical picture in natural host and pathogenicity in mice was not observed.