Literature review > Issue_1 > Review  Uribasterra et al. 

Uribasterra and colleagues conducted a prospective study to assess the potential impact of a non-chlorhexidine containing vaginal lubricant on the sensitivity of PCR testing for Chlamydia trachomatis. Lubricants containing analgesics or phenol have previously been shown to inhibit chlamydial growth on culture [1], so there is some reason to be concerned about this. To my knowledge, the potential impact of lubricants on nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) has not been evaluated previously.

The study population is composed of a convenience sample of women seen in a Pittsburgh emergency room or ambulatory care clinic. No information is provided about the women or the extent to which they are representative of the population of women from which they were sampled. However, there is little reason to believe that the effects of lubricant on test performance would vary in different populations.

The study found good agreement between specimens taken prior to lubricant exposure and those taken after lubricant exposure. Based on the study findings, one can conclude that lubricant does not result in more than a 25% decrease in PCR sensitivity. However, as the authors indicate, the sample size was not adequate to exclude the possibility that lubricant has a more modest, though clinically significant impact on test performance. Larger studies are needed to exclude the possibility that lubricant has a clinically significant impact on the performance of PCR or other NAATs for C. trachomatis.

Reference:

1. Osborn MF, Johnson AP. Effect of various analgesics and lubricants on isolation of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. J Clin Microbiol 1982;15(3):522-4.

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