OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the concentration of selected proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6 and IL-8) in cervicovaginal fluid, as measured in midgestation, and the risk of early-onset neonatal infection (EONI). METHOD Cervicovaginal fluids were obtained from a cohort of 114 pregnant women at 22 to 34 weeks' gestation. The samp...

Although the concept of persistence in chlamydial infections has been recognized for about 80 years, there is still very little known about the mechanism by which this occurs. In this review, we revisit an old paradigm, long known to chlamydiologists and veterinarians, that in virtually all hosts of chlamydiae, including mammals and birds, chlamydiae reside in the gastrointestinal tract for lon...

A nucleic acid vaccine, expressing the gene encoding herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2 glycoprotein D (gD2) under control of the cytomegalovirus immediate-early gene promoter, was used to immunize guinea pigs against genital HSV-2 infection. The vaccine elicited humoral immune responses comparable to those seen after HSV-2 infection. Immunized animals exhibited protection from primary genital H...

The cell-mediated immune response has been documented to be the major protective immune mechanism in mice infected genitally with the agent of mouse pneumonitis (MoPn), a biovar of Chlamydia trachomatis. Moreover, there is strong evidence to indicate that gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) is a major effector mechanism of the cell-mediated immune response. Previous studies from this laboratory have a...

Chlamydia trachomatis infection induces inflammatory pathologies in the upper genital tract, potentially leading to ectopic pregnancy and infertility in the affected women. Caspase-1 is required for processing and release of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), IL-18, and possibly IL-33. In the present study, we evaluated the role of caspase-1 in chlamydial infection and pat...

BACKGROUND Although indirect evidence suggests the male genital tract as a possible source of persistent HIV shedding in semen during antiretroviral therapy, this phenomenon is poorly understood due to the difficulty of sampling semen-producing organs in HIV+ asymptomatic individuals. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Using a range of molecular and cell biological techniques, this study investig...

Human papillomaviruses cause the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world and are responsible for nearly all cases of cervical cancer. Genital human papillomavirus infection can be divided into low-risk infections (causing genital warts) and high-risk infections (causing cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, and cervical and other cancers). Exposure to human papilloma- virus typica...

objective: this study was undertaken with an aim to determine bacterial species involved in post partum infections and also their abundance in patients admitted to at khanevadeh hospital. in this study out of three different kinds of postpartum infections (i.e. genital, breast and urinary tract), only genital infection is considered. materials and methods:  post partum infection among 6077 pati...

BACKGROUND The biggest challenge in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) prevention in Africa is the high HIV-1 burden in young women. In macaques, proinflammatory cytokine production in the genital tract is necessary for target cell recruitment and establishment of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection following vaginal inoculation. The purpose of this study was to assess if gen...