In vitro bacterial adherence to vaginal cells of normal and cystitis-prone women.

Using an in vitro assay system to quantitate the adherence of Escherichia coli to vaginal cells we found no statistically significant difference in mean bacterial adherence per cell in either infection-prone or normal women at either pH 6.4 or 4.0, which is that of the normal vaginal introitus. In addition, we found that the assay method used by previous investigators contained large sources of error, making it difficult to draw conclusions based upon the data obtained with this method.