Figure 2. The most prevalent microbial species detected within the left or right follicular fluid and vagina in women with colonized or contaminated follicular fluid.

Lactobacillus spp., Actinomyces spp. and Propionibacterium spp. were detected more often in the colonized left follicular fluids than in the contaminated left follicular fluids (p<0.01, p<0.05 and p<0.05 respectively). Actinomyces spp. and Propionibacterium spp. were identified more often in colonized than in contaminated follicular fluids (p<0.05), while Peptostreptococcus spp. were isolated more frequently from contaminated follicular fluids from the right ovarian follicles (p<0.05). The vaginal swabs from women with colonized follicular fluid had a higher number of Lactobacillus spp. isolated (p<0.01) and also a higher number bacterial isolates when compared to women with contaminated follicular fluid specimens (p<0.05); however, the same species were detected in both groups of women.