Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Oct;103(1):50-4.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijgo.2008.05.020. Epub 2008 Jul 16.

Human defensins and cytokines in vaginal lavage fluid of women with bacterial vaginosis

S R Fan  1 , X P Liu, Q P Liao
Affiliations

Human defensins and cytokines in vaginal lavage fluid of women with bacterial vaginosis

S R Fan et al. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2008 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: To measure the concentrations of interferon gamma (IFN-gamma), interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-5, human beta-defensin 2 (HBD-2), and human defensin 5 (HD-5) in the vaginal lavage fluid (VLF) of healthy women and women with bacterial vaginosis (BV).

Methods: VLF samples were obtained from 73 women with BV, 15 women with intermediate vaginal flora, 33 healthy women with vaginal pH greater than or equal to 4.5, and a control group of 39 healthy women with vaginal pH less than 4.5. The concentrations of IFN-gamma, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, HBD-2, and HD-5 were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits.

Results: Concentrations of HBD-2 and HD-5 in the VLF of women with BV were significantly higher than in the control group (P<0.05). IL-4 concentration was significantly lower in the VLF of women with BV than in the control group (P<0.05).

Conclusions: HBD-2 and HD-5 may be involved in defending against invasion by BV-related microorganisms and the decrease in IL-4 concentration may increase susceptibility to BV.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources