Toll‐like receptor variants and cervical Atopobium vaginae infection in women with pelvic inflammatory disease

Problem Toll‐like ( TLR ) receptor genetic variants have been implicated in bacterial vaginosis ( BV ). We determined whether TLR variants are associated with fastidious BV ‐associated microbes that are linked with infertility following pelvic inflammatory disease ( PID ). Method of study Sneathia spp., Atopobium vaginae , BVAB 1, and Ureaplasma urealyticum were measured in 250 women from the PID Evaluation and Clinical Health ( PEACH ) study. Relative risk ( RR ) and 95% confidence intervals ( CI ) were calculated adjusting for chlamydia and gonorrhea. Principal component analysis was used to adjust for population stratification. A false discovery rate q‐value of 0.05 was significant. Results TLR 2‐1733C>A ( P  = .003) and TLR 2‐616A>G ( P  = .004) were associated with cervical A. vaginae . TLR 2‐1733C>A and TLR 6‐438C>T were associated with A. vaginae detection in the endometrium, but this was not significant after adjustment for multiple comparisons ( FDR q‐value = 0.06). Conclusion Host gene variants in TLR 2 signaling pathways were modestly associated with cervical A. vaginae in women with clinical PID .