A Study of Vaginal Contents Using Fluorescent Microscope

Fluorescent microscope has been used nowadays in various fields in medicine and studies of vaginal contents using this microscope have been reportethby Bertalanffy, Friedman, Bontke and others. It has been also used for screening of smears in which carcinoma cells show characteristic fiuorescency. Mizuno has already reported about the diagnostic use of this fluorescent microscope on Candidiasis, but now we are reporting here further study on vaginal contets using this microscope. Methods; Smears were taken from posterior fornix of vagina or eroded surface of the cervix. Some were fixed in a solution of equal parts of 95 per cent alchool and ether, and others were used without fixation. These were stained with 1:10000 acridine orange and examined immediately under Winkel-Zeiss flunrescent microscpoe. Results: 1. Fluorescency of exfoliative cells in vagina. a) superficial cells Generally, normal superficial cells of vaginal mucosa show weak fiuorescency, mostly green or green yellow, and occasionally light orange. Nuclei have a little stronger yellow fiuorescency and it wes particularly strong in pyknotic cells. b) intermediate or basal cells Cells from intermediate or basal zone of vaginal mucosa are more reddish. Nuclei are yellow and its structures are clear. Sometimes even nucleoli are seen. c) Carcinoma cells Cells are markedly reddish and its fluorescency is also strong. It is clearly differntiated from normal cells. Nuclei show strong fluorescency in yellow green. Chromatin structures are also clear and unequal numbers and sizes of nucleoli are seen. d) red blood cells It does not show any fluorescency and appears as only dark bluish round shadow. e) white blood cells Nuclei of polymorph white cells are seen as strong fluorescent yellow but protoplasm shows only weak fluorescency or sometimes it is hardly seen. 2. Trichomonas vaginalis In fresh wet slides, trichomonads is seen as fluorescent green or yellow green and the active movement of flagella and undulating. menbrance are seen In protoplasm, yellow small nuclei and green or orange red strongly fluorescent many granules are present. In fixed slides, the protoplasm is seen in light red. 3. Candida In fixed slides, Candida shows fluorescent red and from the particular shape of chlamydospores or pseudomycelium, its diagnosis can be readily obtained but the red fluorescency is not only for Candida but also for many other bacteria. Generally, bacteria are seen in green before fixation and red after fi