Improved yield of Mobiluncus species from clinical specimens after alkaline treatment.

Reference strains and clinical isolates of Mobiluncus species and bacteria in samples of vaginal discharge from patients with bacterial vaginosis were examined for resistance to alkaline solutions. A prolonged survival time in buffers of high pH was shown for Mobiluncus, especially for isolates designated as M. curtisii. In a clinical study, alkaline treatment increased the number of culture-positive samples four times as compared to conventional culture. The improved culture-yield in combination with a shortened time for processing the samples makes the method suitable for isolation of Mobiluncus in clinical samples.