Protozoa of the Digestive and Urogenital Tracts 567 



TRICHOMONAS OF THE UROGENITAL TRACT i 



Trichomonos vaginalis Donne was the first trichomonad flagellate 

 to be described from man. Cytological descriptions have been published 

 by Reuling (141) and Powell (132), and the species has been compared 

 with other trichomonads of man by Wenrich (170). The flagellate (Fig. 11. 

 7, G, H) measures 10-30 x 5-15[x. In material fresh from the vagina, occa- 

 sional flagellates contain leucocytes or more rarely bacteria, but the 

 majority show no food vacuoles. Food vacuoles are common, however, in 

 flagellates from bacterized cultures (132). The undulating membrane 

 usually does not extend into the posterior third of the body except after 

 atitotomy (18, 132). In view of the evidence that T. vaginalis is morpho- 

 logically distinct from P. hominis of the intestine (170), it is interesting 

 that agglutinin tests have failed to demonstrate antigenic differences 

 (112). 



Pure cultures of T. vaginalis have been available for a number of years 

 and are being used to advantage in the study of growth requirements and 

 physiological characteristics of the flagellate (Chapter VIII). 



Effects on man 



Trichomonas vaginalis seems to be absent or else rarely present in 

 the normal vagina but is to be expected in many cases of vaginitis. It is 

 probable that this flagellate is one of the causative factors in vaginitis and 

 that infections may be correlated also with increased morbidity after 

 childbirth (19, 20). Infection is often accompanied by a definite leucor- 

 rhea and a vaginal condition resembling that in acute gonorrheal vagi- 

 nitis. Infections induced by inoculation of pure cultures also have led to 

 vaginal irritation and abnormal discharges (161). Although the evidence 

 for pathogenicity may not be entirely conclusive, it is strong enough to 

 justify prompt treatment of the patient, especially in pregnancy. 



In the male, infection with T. vaginaNs commonly accompanies a non- 

 gonorrheal urethritis. The incidence of infection, which has approached 

 37 per cent in some groups (60), is higher than was formerly suspected. 

 Present indications are that the male is an important transmitter of 

 T. vaginalis and that the female may become a reservoir for venereal 

 infection. 



^ Morphology and biology of Trichomonas vaginalis, growth requirements and culture 

 media, clinical aspects of infections, and therapeutic measures have been reviewed in 

 the following monograph: Trussell, R. E. 1947. Trichomonas vaginalis and trichomo- 

 niasis (Springfield: Thomas). 



