Disease relevance of Vaginal Smears

• Forty-seven young women with mild or moderate dysplasia of the uterine cervix (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia) diagnosed by cervical smears, received oral supplements of folic acid, 10 mg, or a placebo (ascorbic acid, 10 mg) daily for 3 months under double-blind conditions [1].
• A newly developed general primer-mediated polymerase chain reaction (GP-PCR) was used for the detection of a broad spectrum of Human Papilloma-virus (HPV) genotypes, including unsequenced types, in cytologically normal and abnormal cervical smears and in biopsies of cervical carcinomas [2].
• Toward this end, we amplified by polymerase chain reaction, cloned, and sequenced a 364-bp noncoding segment of the HPV-16 genome from cell lines, cervical biopsy specimens, and cervical smears [3].
• Cytological examinations of the cervical smears revealed adenocarcinoma cells and benign-looking glandular cells with intracytoplasmic golden-yellow mucin in all cases [4].
• BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The sexually transmitted diseases (STD) control program for female sex workers (FSW) in Lima, Peru, provided periodic serological tests for syphilis and cervical smears for gonococci, but not medication for STD or condoms [5].

High impact information on Vaginal Smears

• The patients had Tanner II to IV pubertal development, advanced bone age, an estrogen effect on vaginal smear, measurable basal gonadotropin levels with pulsed nocturnal secretion, and a pubertal gonadotropin response to LHRH [6].
• HPV typing in cervical smears was performed by use of a polymerase chain reaction-based assay [7].
• RESULTS: The presence of HPV16 VLP-specific IgGs in the plasma of the patients was found to be associated with the presence of HPV16 DNA in the cervical smear [7].
• The positive predictive value of cervical smears in previously screened postmenopausal women: the Heart and Estrogen/progestin Replacement Study (HERS) [8].
• This evaluation, which should include a careful history, pelvic examination, and Papanicolaou smear, should be repeated annually while the patient is receiving tamoxifen [9].

Chemical compound and disease context of Vaginal Smears

• The degree of oestrogenicity of the vaginal smear was directly related to the levels of oestrone (P less than 0.08) and oestradiol (P less than 0.005) and to the degree of endometrial hyperplasia (P less than 0.02) [10].
• The prognostic value in threatened abortion of plasma progesterone values and the cornification index of vaginal smears [11].
• Ninety-three cases of biopsy-proven condyloma or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) were found on the basis of abnormal Papanicolaou smear results alone, 33 on the basis of abnormal acetic acid wash results alone, and 14 on the basis of abnormal results from both a Papanicolaou smear and an acetic acid wash [12].
• Rates of use of colorectal cancer screening tests were higher for those who had other screening tests (mammography, Papanicolaou smear, and cholesterol check) [13].
• Among these subjects, 37 women had cervical intraepithelial neoplasia; 14 women had cervical cancer, and 21 women were considered control subjects, who had normal Papanicolaou test results. alpha-Tocopherol and alpha-tocopheryl quinone levels were determined in red blood cell and plasma by high-pressure liquid chromatography [14].

Biological context of Vaginal Smears

• Urine was collected from rats during 12 consecutive daily dark periods and assayed for melatonin and norepinephrine; the phase of the vaginal estrous cycle associated with each urine sample was determined from daily vaginal smears [15].
• Plasma IGF-I was decreased by 29-34% and no estrus sign in vaginal smear was observed [16].
• Ovulation was impaired in NPY-treated animals as seen by daily inspection of vaginal smears [17].
• When KGF-treated newborn mice grew to adulthood and were ovariectomized, vaginal smears exhibited persistent diestrus in all animals [18].
• The spontaneous elevation of plasma LH to ovariectomized levels in old intact mice with leukocytic vaginal smears and reduced plasma E2 implies that C57BL/6J mice eventually undergo ovarian changes analogous to menopause in humans [19].

Anatomical context of Vaginal Smears

• The occurrence of ovulation could be determined reliably from a change in the ratio of cornified to basal epithelial cells in vaginal smears, and luteal activity could be assessed reliably from daily measurements of urinary pregnanediol [20].
• Animals made pseudopregnant by cervical stimulation were ovariectomized on Day 1 (the first appearance of leukocytes in the vaginal smear) and injected for 6 days with sesame oil, 0.1-10.0 micrograms estrone, 2.0 mg progesterone, or 1.0 microgram estrone + 2.0 mg progesterone [21].
• Casts were made on Days 4, 5 and 6 of pregnancy (Day 1 = the day of finding spermatozoa in the vaginal smear), implantation sites being identified by an i.v. injection of Evans' blue before casting [22].
• During the experiment, vaginal smears were taken daily and at the end of 14 days all animals were sacrificed, trunk blood was taken for serum estradiol, LH and FSH measurements and the uterus and ovaries were removed and weighed [23].
• Simultaneous determinations of LDH activity in the vaginal epithelium and the maturation index of the vaginal smear were performed for 7 postmenopausal women receiving estrogen therapy and for 4 premenopausal women [24].

Associations of Vaginal Smears with chemical compounds

• Monoclonal antibodies that bound in immunoperoxidase assays to ethanol-fixed smears of cultured human tumor cells but not to normal cervical smears were screened on cervical smears containing malignant cells [25].
• Female rats fed on a vitamin A-deficient diet from weaning were oophorectomized after introitus and used to test analogues of all-trans-retinoic acid for epithelial differentiation activity by the vaginal-smear assay [26].
• Subchronic administration of fluoxetine did not influence cyclicity as judged by the examination of vaginal smears but significantly reduced the percentage of rats displaying receptive behavior in the estrous phase [27].
• The sensitivities of cervical neoplasia detection using the fluid-based Papanicolaou test (73.9%) and Hybrid Capture II (76.3%, P=0.55) were not significantly different [28].
• A new vaginal smear assay for vitamin A in rats [29].

Gene context of Vaginal Smears

• Finally, transferrin-binding lipoprotein (TbpB) was detected on gonococci in vaginal smears, suggesting that although gonococci replicate within the genital tracts of mice, they may be sufficiently iron-stressed to express iron-repressible proteins [30].
• Eight of 10 informative cases with an abnormal Papanicolaou smear showed E-cadherin only at the basal layers [31].
• New cervical smears were obtained from 24 patients with a cytologic diagnosis of typical condyloma for a cytochemical assay of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) activity in the koilocytes that are pathognomonic of this lesion [32].
• In the last group a significant negative correlation (R = -0.72) was found between the vaginal estrogen receptor level and the Maturation Value of the vaginal smear; no correlations were found between the receptor level and the plasma levels of estrone, estradiol, LH, FSH and SHBG [33].
• The distribution of three tumor markers, epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and prekeratin (PK) was studied in exfoliated epithelial cells in cervical smears using an immunoalkaline phosphatase staining technique to demonstrate the antigens [34].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Vaginal Smears

• Telomerase activity as a biomarker for (pre)neoplastic cervical disease in scrapings and frozen sections from patients with abnormal cervical smear [35].
• Colposcopy, Papanicolaou smear, and serum vitamin levels (folate, retinol, alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene, and retinyl palmitate) were monitored every 3 months [36].
• In order to investigate the reliability of detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA in cervical smears, we have compared the performance of two HPV PCR systems, the CPI/IIG and MY09/11 primer-mediated PCRs and the Hybrid Capture System HPV DNA detection test (hybrid capture assay), in detecting HPV DNA in cervical smears [37].
• An abbreviated version of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System telephone survey, including questions on mammography, clinical breast examination (CBE), and Papanicolaou test utilization, was administered to a sample of 480 women aged 40-74 years, enrolled in Kaiser Permanente Colorado for at least 5 years [38].
• Detection and typing of human papillomaviruses present in fixed and stained archival cervical smears by a consensus polymerase chain reaction and direct sequence analysis allow the identification of a broad spectrum of human papillomavirus types [39].

References