In vitro activity of secnidazole against Atopobium vaginae, an anaerobic pathogen involved in bacterial vaginosis.

Bacterial vaginosis is a polymicrobial syndrome. The most important marker for bacterial vaginosis is the presence of Gardnerella vaginalis and Atopobium vaginae. In this study, the in vitro susceptibilities to metronidazole and secnidazole of 16 strains of A. vaginae were tested with the agar dilution method. We observed an MIC range for metronidazole of 4-64 mg/L (MIC(50), 8 mg/L; MIC(90), 32 mg/L) and an MIC range for secnidazole of 4-128 mg/L (MIC(50), 16 mg/L; MIC(90), 64 mg/L). According to these findings, we can conclude that the activity of secnidazole is similar to that of metronidazole.