Antiseptic mouth wash could control gonorrhea

Listerine mouthwash may be potentially useful to controlling gonorrhoea, a venereal disease involving inflammatory discharge from the urethra or vagina.

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This is the findings of a study published online on December 20 edition of the journal ‘Sexually Transmitted Infections’. The study was conducted by Eric P.F. Chow, from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues using both an In-vitro study and a randomised controlled trial to assess whether Listerine mouthwash has an inhibitory effect against Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

In vitro N. gonorrhoeae was added to a serial of dilutions (up to 1:32). Additionally, pharyngeal swabs for culture of N. gonorrhoeae were taken from 58 culture-positive men with pharyngeal gonorrhea before and after rinsing and gargling.

The study was supported by grants from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) programme. The researchers found that Listerine mouthwashe at dilutions of up to 1:4 for one minute resulted in significant reduction of total N. gonorrhoeae counts, but phosphate buffered saline has no inhibitory effect against N. gonorrhoeae.

In the randomised controlled trial, men in the Listerine group were significantly less likely to be culture positive on the pharyngeal surface after gargling the allocated solution versus men in the saline group (52 versus 84 per cent; P = 0.013).

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“These data suggested that Listerine significantly reduces the amount of N. gonorrhoea on the pharyngeal surface,” the authors write. “With daily use, it may increase gonococcus clearance and have important implications for prevention strategies.”

Part of the research outcome reads: “A total of 213 men were eligible and 196 men were enrolled in the study, 104 were randomised to use Listerine and 92 were randomised to use saline (figure 1B).

There was no significant difference in age, number of partners, use of spirits or mouthwash, HIV serostatus or the proportion of pharyngeal gonorrhoea culture positive on the day between the two groups at enrolment “Of 196 men, 58 men were culture positive at either the posterior oropharynx and/or tonsillar fossae before using the solution (28 men were positive at both posterior oropharynx and tonsillar fossae, 15 were positive at posterior oropharynx only and another 15 were positive at tonsillar fossae only). The median age of the 58 men was 27.

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