Background: The medical literature has reported that recurrent bacterial vaginosis (RBV) has a relapse rate of 35% within 3 months and 60% within 12 months after antibiotic administration. Products that are able to provide a barrier effect against the biofilm produced by Gardnerella vaginalis could play a role in improving the results of bacterial vaginosis (BV) treatment.
Objective: This study aims to assess the performance and safety of a medical device (Polybactum) containing polycarbophil, lauryl glucoside, and glycerides (PLGG) for reducing the rate of recurrence of BV.
Methods: The study includes women who are aged above 18 years, are willing to provide signed informed consent, have a diagnosis of BV according to the Amsel criteria, and have been affected by at least 2 episodes of RBV in the last 12 months. The trial includes 2 phases. In the first phase (according to an open-label noncontrolled design), the treatment involving PLGG is administered for 3 cycles and is followed by a 1-month period of follow-up without treatment. In the second phase, a 9-month follow-up period is envisaged. Thus, for each patient, a 10-month follow-up period without treatment is planned. The study involves 5 centers (2 in Italy and 3 in Romania). We calculated a sample size of 44 pairs to achieve a power of 80% and a 1-sided significance of 5% for detecting a difference of 0.25 between marginal proportions, in comparison with the mean recurrence rate of BV reported in the medical literature. We estimated a potential dropout rate of 20%, and thus, we decided to enroll 55 patients (1-group chi-square test).
Results: The study received ethics approval in 2016 in Romania and 1 year later in Italy. Recruitment started in September 2016. An interim analysis was performed in 2019, and full study analysis results are expected in July 2023.
Conclusions: The tested medical device involving PLGG could modify the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of BV and could improve microbiological parameters owing to the acidifying effect on vaginal pH. We believe that the findings of our study could be useful for other investigators who want to test different products against RBV using a standardized protocol and standardized procedures.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02863536; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02863536.
International registered report identifier (irrid): RR1-10.2196/42787.
Keywords: bacterial vaginosis; biofilm; polycarbophil; recurrent bacterial vaginosis.
©Filippo Murina, Paolo Inghirami, Marius Biriș, Daniela Sîrbu, Dionisio Franco Barattini, Federica Sbrocca, Luca Ivan Ardolino, Mario Mangrella, Elena Casolati, Serban Roșu, Ciprian Doru Crișan. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (https://www.researchprotocols.org), 20.07.2023.