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Glucose Tolerance Impaired In Women With Recurrent Vaginal Infections

Non-diabetic women with recurrent vaginal candidiasis have a discretely impaired glucose metabolism, researchers in Belgium have found.

Glucose tolerance testing in these women is of value, however, interpretation of the results should not be limited to diagnosis of preclinical diabetes mellitus, urges this study from the General Hospital Heilig Hart, Tienen, and the University Hospital Gasthuisberg and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

Dr G G Donders and colleagues conducted this case-control study among 62 otherwise healthy women attending a vaginitis clinic three or more times a year, and 32 Candida-negative controls, all of whom were undergoing standardised oral glucose tolerance testing.

Study subjects had symptoms of Candida vaginitis, positive microscopy and at least one positive Candida culture.

Women with recurrent bacterial vaginal infections did not differ from women without infections, so ultimately both groups comprised the control group.

Those women with recurrent infections had a greater mean body mass index but no more incidences of overt or preclinical diabetes mellitus than did the other women. However, a greater proportion of those with recurrent candidiasis had at least one glucose concentration above the 95^th percentile (36 versus 12 percent).

Glucose concentrations were higher in recurrent vaginal candidiasis cases than in the other women at 0, 30 and 60 minutes after the intake of 75 g of glucose.

Fasting concentration of glycosylated haemoglobin was also higher by 25 percent in women with recurrent vaginal candidiasis, even after the researchers took into account body mass index.

Ingestion of 75 g of glucose led to a 15 percent increase of serum glucose levels in women with, versus without, recurrent vaginal candidiasis.

As expected, most of these differences were largely mediated by an increased body mass index, the researchers note.
Am J Obstet Gynecol 2002 Oct;187(4):989-993. "Impaired tolerance for glucose in women with recurrent vaginal candidiasis."

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