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We studied the vaginal microflora of 73 postmenopausal women who had never received estrogen replacement therapy. The median age of these women was 67 years, and none of them had bacterial vaginosis. Lactobacilli were detected in 36 (49%) of these women at a mean concentration of 10(5.7) cfu/g of vaginal fluid. H2O2-producing lactobacilli were recovered from 38% of the women. Some of the other organisms that were recovered, including Gardnerella vaginalis (27% of the women), Ureaplasma urealyticum (13%), Candida albicans (1%), and Prevotella bivia (33%), were less frequently isolated from postmenopausal women than from women of reproductive age, while coliforms (41%) were recovered at higher frequencies. Lactobacilli, yeasts, and bacterial vaginosis-associated bacteria are less commonly part of the vaginal microflora in postmenopausal women than in women of reproductive age, which may explain the decrease in the incidence of bacterial vaginosis and yeast vaginitis among these women.

The Scientific Board of the California Medical Association presents the following inventory of items of progress in obstetrics and gynecology. Each item, in the judgment of a panel of knowledgeable physicians, has recently become reasonably firmly established, both as to scientific fact and important clinical significance. The items are presented in simple epitome and an authoritative reference, both to the item itself and to the subject as a whole, is generally given for those who may be unfamiliar with a particular item. The purpose is to assist busy practitioners, students, research workers, or scholars to stay abreast of these items of progress in obstetrics and gynecology that have recently achieved a substantial degree of authoritative acceptance, whether in their own field of special interest or another.The items of progress listed below were selected by the Advisory Panel to the Section on Obstetrics and Gynecology of the California Medical Association and the summaries were prepared under its direction.

Eight otherwise healthy male chronic marijuana smokers were hospitalized for a period of 30 days. Initially they received placebo, then a sustained dose of 210 milligrams of delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta9-THC) per day for 18 days, followed by placebo. Lymphocyte responses to phytohemagglutinin were examined during each of these periods. Neither the daily ingestion of marijuana extract containing 210 milligrams of delta9-THC for 18 days nor the history of chronic marijuana smoking had a depressive effect on the lymphocyte responses of these subjects to phytohemagglutinin.

The importance of antiplatelet antibodies in clinical medicine was first recognized in 1951. Since that time, a number of syndromes have been described, including autoimmune thrombocytopenia purpura, posttransfusion purpura, neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia, and drug-induced thrombocytopenia purpura, that fit into the category of immunologic thrombocytopenias. The laboratory methods for detecting the antiplatelet antibodies present in these diseases are enumerated and discussed along with the currently recognized platelet-specific antigens. Because of the complexities of performance and the lack of agreement among many of the available procedures, it is recommended that antiplatelet antibody testing remain primarily a research tool for the present time.

Pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) can be complicated by maternal or fetal thrombocytopenia, or both. In order to investigate possible immunologic causes of these thrombocytopenias, platelet-associated IgG (PAIgG) and IgM (PAIgM) were measured in mothers with PIH and in their infants and compared with those from patients with autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura (ATP), a known immunodestructive platelet disorder. Many PIH patients (33.3%) and most ATP patients (68.1%) had elevated levels of maternal PAIgG. In both diseases, the amount of PAIgG was directly proportional with the degree of thrombocytopenia (r = 0.446 in PIH and r = 0.668 for ATP). But in neither disease did the degree of maternal thrombocytopenia correlate with the degree of neonatal thrombocytopenia (r = 0.153 for PIH and r = 0.175 for ATP). Umbilical cord samples from PIH patients contained PAIgG (53.3%) and PAIgM (53.8%), whereas the umbilical cord samples from ATP patients had elevated amounts of PAIgG but not PAIgM. PAIgM in the umbilical cord blood could not be accounted for by IgM rheumatoid factors, IgM-containing immune complexes, or non-specific adsorption because of elevated total IgM levels. The umbilical cord blood PAIgM was probably not of maternal origin because it was observed even when the maternal blood contained no PAIgM and maternal IgM is not normally transported transplacentally. Therefore, the PAIgM appears to be of fetal origin. These results suggest that both maternal and fetal immunologic mechanisms may be involved in PIH-induced thrombocytopenia; if so, this is one of the first reported examples of a possible fetal autoimmune response.

Although acyclovir is prescribed to women of reproductive age, no information currently exists regarding the advisability of its use in lactating women. This report documents the first known case of acyclovir transfer to an infant through breast milk. Maternal plasma, milk, and infant urine were collected following a 200-mg oral dose of acyclovir. The drug concentration in breast milk exceeded the corresponding plasma concentration except at the time of peak plasma concentration. This would not be expected on the basis of simple diffusion, and might be caused by a facilitated or active transport mechanism. Such a mechanism has not been described for any drug in human breast milk. Subtherapeutic amounts of acyclovir were documented in the infant, and we discuss the potential effects on neonatal immune function. The use of acyclovir in lactating women remains controversial until further study can clarify pertinent questions.