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Diversity of Cervicovaginal Cytokine Response to Incident Chlamydia trachomatis Infection Among a Prospective Cohort of Young Women
Author(s) -
Hwang Loris Y.,
Scott Mark E.,
Ma Yifei,
Moscicki AnnaBarbara
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
american journal of reproductive immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.071
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1600-0897
pISSN - 1046-7408
DOI - 10.1111/aji.12401
Subject(s) - chlamydia trachomatis , cytokine , medicine , quartile , prospective cohort study , cohort , chlamydia , ex vivo , immunology , vagina , cohort study , in vivo , biology , surgery , microbiology and biotechnology , confidence interval
Problem Animal , in vitro, and ex vivo studies have identified several cytokines involved in host immunity to genital Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) infection. However, in vivo cytokine responses are not well described. Our objectives were to document cervicovaginal cytokine levels and intrawoman cytokine changes during incident CT in a prospective cohort. Methods From our prospective cohort, 62 women had incident CT, comprising a CT‐negative visit followed by a CT‐positive visit. At these visits, cytokine protein levels (IL‐6, IL‐8, IL‐1α, IL‐1β, MIP‐1α, RANTES, IFN‐γ) were measured using cervicovaginal lavages and the MILLIPLEX ™ /Luminex ® multiplex assay. Quartiles were defined for each cytokine from all 124 visits. Results At the group level, RANTES was higher ( P < 0.01) at the CT‐positive visit than at baseline, but the other cytokines did not significantly differ. For intrawoman cytokine changes, women with a cytokine level that increased at least one quartile higher (going from baseline to the CT‐positive visit) ranged between 26 and 53%. Women with a cytokine level staying in the same quartile ranged between 32 and 48%. Women with a cytokine level that decreased at least one quartile lower ranged between 15 and 37%. Conclusion Intrawoman cervicovaginal cytokine changes during incident CT appear heterogeneous and may reflect differences in natural host immunity.