Local immunity in Indian women with bacterial vaginosis.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the immunoglobulin (Ig) and cytokine levels and degradation of Igs in the cervico-vaginal secretions (CVS) of non-pregnant Indian women of low socio economic status (LSES), with/without bacterial vaginosis (BV) and to assess the interactions among nutritional status, BV and local immunity.


METHODS
A descriptive study in non-pregnant women of LSES attending the gynecology out patient clinic at a local government hospital, Hyderabad, India. Two hundred non-pregnant women underwent clinical, anthropometrical and gynecological examination and were screened for BV. In a sub-sample of 80 with/without BV, levels of IL-10 and IL-12, IgA, IgM and IgG were determined in the CVS by ELISA and degradation of IgA and IgM by Western blotting. Statistical significance among the groups was tested using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test.


RESULTS
Fifty seven percent of the women tested positive for BV. Women with BMI<16.0 had the highest BV positivity and the lowest IgA levels in CVS. Higher levels of IgA were observed in women with BMI>18.5. There was significant degradation of IgA and IgM in women with BV. IL-12 was undetectable while IL-10 was detected with higher means in CVS of women with BV.


CONCLUSIONS
Severe under-nutrition appears to be relevant to BV positivity and local immunity in these women. Greater degradation of IgA and IgM in BV suggests impaired local immunity.
Yasodhara
P
P
Division of Pathology and Microbiology, National Institute of Nutrition, Jamai Osmania P.O., Hyderabad 500 007, Andhra Pradesh, India. yash1252@hotmail.com
Raghunath
M
M
Sreeramulu
D
D
Venu
L
L
Hemalatha
R
R
Krishna
T Prasanna
TP
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000276:immunology; D007194:India; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000276:immunology; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000276:immunology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012923:Social Class; D016585:Vaginosis, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology
D007136:Immunoglobulins; D016753:Interleukin-10; D018664:Interleukin-12