Trichomonads are actively motile, flagellated, pear-shaped protozoa which occur widely as parasites in man and other animals. Infections may vary in degree of severity depending on the individual host reaction, but they are generally difficult to eradicate. Many types of treatment are recommended, but no reliably efficient chemotherapeutic agents are available; therapeutic procedures are largely empirical and therapy is apt to be uncertain and unsatisfactory.Attempts to infect animals with bacteria-free cultures of Trichomonas vaginalis (1) have met with little success. In this laboratory, rabbits could not be infected by Trichomonas hominis inoculated intravaginally, and experimental infections of Trichomonas foetus in the vagina of the rabbit are too irregular and unpredictable for practical in vivo tests (2–4). Therefore, in vitro tests on clinical material or on cultures of the organisms remain as a basis for evaluating drugs, particularly for substances which may be expected to act promptly.
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