Association between bacterial vaginosis and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

The aim of this study was to determine whether the presence of bacterial vaginosis (BV) is associated with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and human papilloma virus (HPV) infection.

A total of 588 women who had abnormal Pap smears and had finally undergone loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) in our institute from September 2002 to May 2006 were selected. The screening tests for BV were done in 552 of the 588, and BV was diagnosed if three of the following four findings were satisfied: presence of abnormal discharge, vaginal pH>4.5, presence of clue cells, positive amine or whiff test. Five hundred and five patients had HPV typing tests by the HPV DNA chip. Forty two patients diagnosed with invasive cancer were excluded from this study. CIN was subdivided into low-grade CIN (CIN I) and high-grade CIN (CIN II/III) groups.

There was no statistically significant difference in patient characteristics between BV-present and BV-absent group. The incidence of CIN was significantly higher in the BV-present group (p=0.043), however, no statistical significance of BV on CIN was observed on multivariate analysis. HPV infection showed no significant relationship with BV. BV with or without HPV infection did not influence the incidence of CIN, regardless of the severity.

There was significant correlation between BV and the presence of CIN, regardless of the severity of CIN. In addition, there was no significant association between the presence of BV and HPV infection.