Impact of oral metronidazole treatment on the vaginal microbiota and correlates of treatment failure

Metronidazole is the first-line treatment for bacterial vaginosis, but cure rates are suboptimal and recurrence rates high. To evaluate the impact of a standard course of oral metronidazole treatment (500 mg twice per day for 7 days) on the vaginal microbiota of Rwandan bacterial vaginosis patients using microscopy and 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and to evaluate correlates of treatment failure. HIV-negative, nonpregnant women aged 18–45 years with bacterial vaginosis and/or Trichomonas vaginalis (N=68) were interviewed and sampled before and after metronidazole treatment. They were also screened, and treated if applicable, for other urogenital infections. The vaginal microbiota was assessed by Gram stain Nugent scoring, Illumina 16S rRNA HiSeq sequencing (relative abundances), and BactQuant 16S gene quantitative polymerase chain reaction (estimated concentrations). Only women with a pretreatment Nugent score of 7–10 and a valid posttreatment Nugent score (N=55) were included in metronidazole treatment failure analyses, with treatment failure defined as a posttreatment Nugent score of 4–10. The bacterial vaginosis cure rate by Nugent scoring was 54.5%. The mean total vaginal bacterial concentration declined from 6.59 to 5.85 log10/μL (P