Open AccessInterleukin-36γ Is Elevated in Cervicovaginal Epithelial Cells in Women With Bacterial Vaginosis and In Vitro After Infection With Microbes Associated With Bacterial Vaginosis
Author(s) -
Jameson K. Gardner,
Paweł Łaniewski,
Anna K. Knight,
Lisa Haddad,
Alison Swaims-Kohlmeier,
Melissa M. Herbst-Kralovetz
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the journal of infectious diseases (online. university of chicago press)/the journal of infectious diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.69
H-Index - 252
eISSN - 1537-6613
pISSN - 0022-1899
DOI - 10.1093/infdis/jiz514
Subject(s) - bacterial vaginosis , microbiology and biotechnology , vagina , biology , in vitro , interleukin 8 , lactobacillus , vaginal disease , cytokine , immunology , vaginitis , interleukin 6 , interleukin , bacteria , biochemistry , genetics
In recent studies, the interleukin (IL)-36 cytokines were shown to be elevated in women with non-Lactobacillus-dominated vaginal microbiomes. In this study, we evaluated IL36G expression in clinical samples from women with and without bacterial vaginosis (BV) and a human 3-dimensional cervical epithelial cell model. IL36G expression was significantly elevated in cervicovaginal epithelial cells isolated from BV-positive women and corresponded with increased neutrophil counts relative to BV-negative women. In addition, specific BV-associated bacterial species as well as a polymicrobial cocktail significantly induced IL36G expression in vitro. These findings suggest that IL-36γ may exhibit an important function in the host response to BV and other sexually transmitted infections.