The association between abnormal cervical cytology and HIV infection status in women was evaluated to correlate with CD4 cell count and viral load in HIV-positive patients with the presence of low-grade (LSIL) and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL). Cervical samples were collected at the Tropical Disease Hospital, Maternal and Child Healthcare Hospital and at the Nascer Cidadão M...

Cells of the endocervix are responsible for the secretion of mucins, which provide an additional layer of protection to the female reproductive tract (FRT). This barrier is likely fortified with IgA as has previously been shown in the gastrointestinal tract and lungs of mice. Mucus associated IgA can facilitate clearance of bacteria. While a similar function for IgG has been proposed, an associ...

Bilateral neurectomy of the pelvic nerve (BLPN) that carries uterine cervix-related sensory nerves induces dystocia, and administration of its vasoactive neuropeptides induces changes in the cervical microvasculature, resembling those that occur in the ripening cervix. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that (a) the cervix of pregnant rats expresses vascular endothelial growth facto...

In this study we utilized immortalized morphologically and functionally distinct epithelial cell lines from normal human endocervix, ectocervix, and vagina to characterize gonococcal epithelial interactions pertinent to the lower female genital tract. Piliated, but not nonpiliated, N. gonorrhoeae strain F62 variants actively invaded these epithelial cell lines, as demonstrated by an antibiotic ...

Eighty-eight endometrial specimens from 36 postmenopausal breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen were investigated cytogenetically and molecularly using fluorescence in situ hybridization with appropriate probes for the HMGIC and HMGIY genes. Twenty control specimens, 10 endometrial polyps, and 10 endometrial biopsy specimens were investigated in the same way. Of the 88 specimens, 44 wer...

BACKGROUND Sex workers and HIV seropositive women are at high risk of abnormal cervical cytology. The objective of this study was to compare the cervical cytology among three groups of women: active sex workers, HIV-infected women, and general population in Iran. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study performed in Hazrat Zeinab, Lavan clinics and drop in center (DIC) in Shiraz, Iran. This s...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the Christie, Atkins, Munch-Peterson (CAMP) and hippurate hydrolysis reactions as diagnostic tools for Streptococcus agalactiae carriage in pregnancy. DESIGN Observational, analytical case-control study. SETTING Hospital-based study in a primary and a tertiary health care institution. PATIENTS One hundred and six pregnant and 56 non-pregnant (controls) women were inc...

BACKGROUND Because Mycoplasma genitalium is a prevalent and emerging cause of sexually transmitted infections, understanding the mechanisms by which M. genitalium elicits mucosal inflammation is an essential component to managing lower and upper reproductive tract disease syndromes in women. METHODS We used a rotating wall vessel bioreactor system to create 3-dimensional (3-D) epithelial cell...

Epithelioid trophoblastic tumor (ETT) is a rare gestational trophoblastic neoplasm of chorionic-type intermediate trophoblasts, and it is most frequently located in the lower uterine segment and endocervix. Due to the epithelial-growth pattern with geographic necrosis exhibited by the neoplastic cells, ETT is commonly confused, both clinically and pathologically, with squamous cell carcinoma. A...

OBJECTIVE To compare gonorrhoea detection by self taken vulvovaginal swabs (tested with nucleic acid amplification tests) with the culture of urethral and endocervical samples taken by clinicians. DESIGN Prospective study of diagnostic accuracy. SETTING 1 sexual health clinic in an urban setting (Leeds Centre for Sexual Health, United Kingdom), between March 2009 and January 2010. PARTICI...