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

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.