title: Vaginal IL-8 levels are positively associated with Candida albicans and inversely with lactobacilli in HIV-infected women.
abstract: IL-8/CXCL8 is induced during infections, but has not been reported for Candida albicans colonization of the female genital tract. Cervicovaginal lavage (CVL) samples were collected from 406 HIV-infected women. IL-8 levels were evaluated by ELISA and compared with levels of C. albicans detected by potassium hydroxide (KOH) and PCR. Levels of lactobacilli, Gardnerella vaginalis and Mycoplasma hominis were also determined by PCR. IL-8 was significantly higher in samples from women with Candida, and regression analysis showed a positive association between IL-8 and Candida. In contrast, there was an inverse relationship between lactobacilli and IL-8. G. vaginalis and M. hominis were not significantly associated with IL-8. This study has shown an association between C. albicans and levels of IL-8 in mucosal genital fluid.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology/Microbiology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. gspear@rush.edu
authors.forename: Gregory T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Spear
authors.forename: M Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Zariffard
authors.forename: Mardge H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Beverly E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Sha
mesh_terms: D002176:Candida albicans / Q000276:immunology; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006194:Gardnerella vaginalis / Q000276:immunology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000276:immunology*; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000276:immunology; D019535:Mycoplasma hominis / Q000276:immunology; D014621:Vagina / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: C508606:CXCL8 protein, human; D016209:Interleukin-8