Comparative pathogenicity of Trichomonas vaginalis isolated from symptomatic and asymptomatic cases

Pathogenicity of 19 isolates of Trichomonas vaginalis obtained from vaginal specimens were studied in the murine model by intraperitoneal inoculation. 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 isolate through intraperitoneal route and the animals were sacrificed on the 10th 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 the pathogenicity level was observed among the isolates, a definite correlation between the clinical picture in the natural host and pathogenicity in mice was not observed.