Objective: To determine prevalence of Bifidobacterium spp. and to evaluate adhesion ability and cell surface properties of bifidobacterial isolates from Thai women with BV compared to healthy subjects.

Material and Method: A total of 139 bifidobacterial isolates from 20 of 60 women with BV and 7 of 60 healthy women. The isolated strains were identified by molecular biology techniques and examined for adhesion property and surface charges.

Results: The prevalence of vaginal bifidobacteria in women with BV (33.3%) was significantly (p<0.05) higher than healthy women (11.7%) with total counts of 8.9±3.4 Log CFU/ml and 5.7±2.9 Log CFU/ml, respectively. The frequent species of B. bifidum, B. longum, B. breve and B. dentium were found in women with BV, while healthy women harbored B. bifidum, B. longum and B. breve. All vaginal bifidobacteria from BV and healthy subjects were able to adhere cultured cells in vitro. The adhesion ability of B. bifidum and B. dentium from BV subjects showed high degree of adhesion property and was in correlation with cell surface characteristics.

Conclusion: The prevalence of vaginal bifidobacteria occurred significantly higher in women with BV than healthy group. The strains of B. bifidum and B. dentium showed high adhesion property which implied as an important role of colonization in vaginas of women with BV.

Keywords: Prevalence, adhesion, bifidobacteria, bacterial vaginosis, surface charge