Evaluation of the effects of blood estradiol level on vaginal pH,flora and candida infections in patients receiving infertility treatment

Evaluation of the effects of blood estradiol level on vaginal pH, flora and candida infections in patients receiving infertility treatment Purpose: To evaluate the possible effects of estradiol levels on vaginal pH,flora and susceptibility to candidal infections. Materials and Methods: In this study, clinical data and biochemical parameters obtained from 60 infertility cases between the ages of 20-49 were evaluated. In all cases, blood serum estradiol measurements were made on the 2nd day of the menstrual cycle, vaginal pH was measured and mycological culture was taken. The same procedures were repeated after ovulation induction, when the serum estradiol level was expected to reach its maximum level. By comparing samples taken from the same patients in two different slices, it was compared whether the increase in estradiol had an effect on vaginal pH and candidal growth. The findings were compared using SPSS Statistics 22.0 program. Results: In our study, compared to the estradiol and vaginal pH values taken before the treatment, there was a significant increase in the estradiol and vaginal pH values taken after the treatment. However, when we looked at the effect of estradiol on vaginal pH, vulvovaginal symptoms and culture reproduction, we could not observe a significant difference. When we compared it with vaginal pH values, we could not see a significant effect of vaginal pH on vulvovaginal symptoms and growth in culture. However, we found a significant relationship between the cultures we took before treatment and the vulvovaginal symptoms of the patients.We could not detect the same significant result between the cultures obtained after infertility treatment and the vulvovaginal symptoms of the patients. Discussion: Based on the findings of our study, we concluded that there is no cause for concern that the serious increase in serum estradiol level during infertility treatment may create a predisposition to vaginal candidal infections by changing vaginal pH. Key words: Infertility, candida, estradiol, vaginal flora, vaginitis