Association of burden with the vaginal microbiota, bacterial vaginosis, and metronidazole treatment.

Bacterial vaginosis (BV), a dysbiosis of the vaginal microbiota, is a common coinfection with (Ct), and BV-associated bacteria (BVAB) and their products have been implicated in aiding Ct evade natural immunity. Here, we determined if a non-optimal vaginal microbiota was associated with a higher genital Ct burden and if metronidazole, a standard treatment for BV, would reduce Ct burden or aid in natural clearance of Ct infection. Cervicovaginal samples were collected from women at enrollment and, if testing positive for Ct infection, at a follow-up visit approximately one week later.

A novel , , and standard that improves accuracy in quantifying bacterial burden in vaginal microbial communities.

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common vaginal dysbiosis. In this condition, a polymicrobial biofilm develops on vaginal epithelial cells. Accurately quantifying the bacterial burden of the BV biofilm is necessary to further our understanding of BV pathogenesis.

"Don't let anybody ever put you down culturally…. it's not good…": Creating spaces for Blak women's healing.

Research has highlighted the importance of Indigenous knowledge and cultural practice in healing from ongoing histories of trauma, dispossession, and displacement for Indigenous peoples in Australia and elsewhere. Connection with culture, Country, and kinship has been identified as protective factors for Aboriginal social and emotional well-being and as facilitating cultural healing. This paper draws on stories mediated through cultural practice specifically, Wayapa and bush-dyeing workshops, to explore how women resignified experiences and engaged in "healing work.

Human genital antibody-mediated inhibition of Chlamydia trachomatis infection and evidence for ompA genotype-specific neutralization.

The endocervix, the primary site of Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) infection in women, has a unique repertoire of locally synthesized IgG and secretory IgA (SIgA) with contributions from serum IgG. Here, we assessed the ability of genital and serum-derived IgG and IgA from women with a recent positive Ct test to neutralize Ct elementary bodies (EBs) and inhibit inclusion formation in vitro in human endocervical epithelial cells. We also determined if neutralization was influenced by the major outer membrane protein (MOMP) of the infecting strain, as indicated by ompA gene sequencing and genotyping.

Differences in the Genital Microbiota in Women Who Naturally Clear Infection Compared to Women Who Do Not Clear; A Pilot Study.

studies indicate IFNγ is central to (Ct) eradication, but its function may be compromised by anaerobes typically associated with bacterial vaginosis (BV), a frequent co-morbidity in women with Ct. Here we investigated the associations between natural clearance of cervical Ct infection, the vaginal microbiome, and the requirements for IFNγ by evaluating the vaginal microbial and cytokine composition of Ct treatment visit samples from women who cleared Ct infection in the interim between their Ct screening and Ct treatment visit. The pilot cohort was young, predominantly African American, and characterized by a high rate of BV that was treated with metronidazole at the Ct screening visit.

Amplifying the Voices of Indigenous Elders through Community Arts and Narrative Inquiry: Stories of Oppression, Psychosocial Suffering, and Survival.

Researchers and practitioners in community psychology have an important role to play in supporting decolonial work including promoting opportunities for reclamation, healing, and acknowledgment of history. In this article, we discuss research undertaken alongside a community arts and cultural development project that sought to support Aboriginal people in Western Australian to create an archive of their stories for current and future generations; stories that could serve as resources for healing, reclamation, and for examining a painful and unjust past. Narrative approaches have been promoted in community psychology to advance empowerment research and practice alongside marginalized, excluded, and minoritized groups.

Alternatively Activated Macrophages Are Host Cells for and Reverse Anti-chlamydial Classically Activated Macrophages.

The obligate intracellular pathogen (Ctr) is the causative agent of the most common form of sexually transmitted disease in the United States. Genital infections with can lead to inflammatory tissue damage followed by scarring and tissue remodeling during wound healing. Extensive scarring can lead to ectopic pregnancy or infertility.

Cervical and systemic concentrations of long acting hormonal contraceptive (LARC) progestins depend on delivery method: Implications for the study of HIV transmission.

Progestin-only long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) are increasingly popular among women seeking contraception; however, recent epidemiological studies suggest that systemically administered medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) may increase HIV acquisition. In order to determine the exact mechanisms underlying increases in transmission specific to MPA use and to test safer, alternative contraceptive progestin types and delivery methods, in vitro modeling studies must be performed. To achieve this, it is imperative that accurate hormone concentrations be utilized when modeling progestin-mediated outcomes, as the down-stream effects are dose-dependent.

Effects of three long-acting reversible contraceptive methods on HIV target cells in the human uterine cervix and peripheral blood.

Background: Hormonal contraceptives, particularly depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), have been reported to be associated with substantially enhanced HIV acquisition; however, the biological mechanisms of this risk remain poorly understood. We aimed to investigate the effects of different hormonal contraceptives on the expression of the HIV co-receptors, CXCR4 and CCR5, on female endocervical and peripheral blood T cells.

Methods: A total of 59 HIV-negative women were enrolled, including 15 initiating DMPA, 28 initiating a levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device (LNG-IUD) and 16 initiating an etonogestrel (ETG)-delivering vaginal ring.

Anti-chlamydia IgG and IgA are insufficient to prevent endometrial chlamydia infection in women, and increased anti-chlamydia IgG is associated with enhanced risk for incident infection.

Problem: Chlamydia infections in women can ascend to the upper genital tract, and repeated infections are common, placing women at risk for sequelae. The protective role of anti-chlamydia antibodies to surface exposed antigens in ascending and incident infection is unclear.

Method Of Study: A whole-bacterial ELISA was used to quantify chlamydia-specific IgG and IgA in serum and cervical secretions of 151 high-risk women followed longitudinally.

Chlamydia trachomatis-infected cells and uninfected-bystander cells exhibit diametrically opposed responses to interferon gamma.

The intracellular bacterial pathogen, Chlamydia trachomatis, is a tryptophan auxotroph. Therefore, induction of the host tryptophan catabolizing enzyme, indoleamine-2,3-dioxgenase-1 (IDO1), by interferon gamma (IFNγ) is one of the primary protective responses against chlamydial infection. However, despite the presence of a robust IFNγ response, active and replicating C.

Differential regulation of IFNα, IFNβ and IFNε gene expression in human cervical epithelial cells.

Interferonε (IFNε) is a unique type I IFN that has distinct functions from IFNα/β. IFNε is constitutively expressed at mucosal tissues, including the female genital mucosa, and is reported to be modulated by estrogen and seminal plasma. However, its regulation by cytokines, including TNFα, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-17, IL-22 and IFNα, which are commonly present in the female genital mucosa, is not well documented in freshly isolated primary cervical cells from tissues.

A novel whole-bacterial enzyme linked-immunosorbant assay to quantify Chlamydia trachomatis specific antibodies reveals distinct differences between systemic and genital compartments.

Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is the leading sexually transmitted bacterial infection. The continued global burden of CT infection strongly predicates the need for a vaccine to supplement current chlamydial control programs. The correlates of protection against CT are currently unknown, but they must be carefully defined to guide vaccine design.

Cell Intrinsic Factors Modulate the Effects of IFNγ on the Development of .

is an obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen that cannot synthesize several amino acids, including tryptophan. Rather, acquires these essential metabolites from its human host cell. Chlamydial dependence on host-provided tryptophan underlies a major host defense mechanism against the bacterium; namely, the induction of the host tryptophan-catabolizing enzyme, indoleamine 2,3- dioxygenase (IDO1) by interferon gamma (IFNγ), which leads to eradication of by tryptophan starvation.

The High-Risk Human Papillomavirus E6 Oncogene Exacerbates the Negative Effect of Tryptophan Starvation on the Development of Chlamydia trachomatis.

Chlamydia trachomatis is an obligate intracellular pathogen that requires specific essential nutrients from the host cell, one of which is the amino acid tryptophan. In this context interferon gamma (IFNγ) is the major host protective cytokine against chlamydial infections because it induces the expression of the host enzyme, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1, that degrades tryptophan, thereby restricting bacterial replication. The mechanism by which IFNγ acts has been dissected in vitro using epithelial cell-lines such as HeLa, HEp-2, or the primary-like endocervical cell-line A2EN.

Chlamydia trachomatis Infection of Endocervical Epithelial Cells Enhances Early HIV Transmission Events.

Chlamydia trachomatis causes a predominantly asymptomatic, but generally inflammatory, genital infection that is associated with an increased risk for HIV acquisition. Endocervical epithelial cells provide the major niche for this obligate intracellular bacterium in women, and the endocervix is also a tissue in which HIV transmission can occur. The mechanism by which CT infection enhances HIV susceptibility at this site, however, is not well understood.

Picturing the Wheatbelt: exploring and expressing place identity through photography.

Community arts and cultural development is a process that builds on and responds to the aspirations and needs of communities through creative means. It is participatory and inclusive, and uses multiple modes of representation to produce local knowledge. 'Voices' used photography and photo elicitation as the medium for exploring and expressing sense of place among Aboriginal and non-Indigenous children, young people and adults in four rural towns.

Membrane vesicle production by Chlamydia trachomatis as an adaptive response.

Bacteria have evolved specific adaptive responses to cope with changing environments. These adaptations include stress response phenotypes with dynamic modifications of the bacterial cell envelope and generation of membrane vesicles (MVs). The obligate intracellular bacterium, Chlamydia trachomatis, typically has a biphasic lifestyle, but can enter into an altered growth state typified by morphologically aberrant chlamydial forms, termed persistent growth forms, when induced by stress in vitro.

Morphologic and molecular evaluation of Chlamydia trachomatis growth in human endocervix reveals distinct growth patterns.

In vitro models of Chlamydia trachomatis growth have long been studied to predict growth in vivo. Alternative or persistent growth modes in vitro have been shown to occur under the influence of numerous stressors but have not been studied in vivo. Here, we report the development of methods for sampling human infections from the endocervix in a manner that permits a multifaceted analysis of the bacteria, host and the endocervical environment.

Influence of the tryptophan-indole-IFNγ axis on human genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection: role of vaginal co-infections.

The natural history of genital Chlamydia trachomatis infections can vary widely; infections can spontaneously resolve but can also last from months to years, potentially progressing to cause significant pathology. The host and bacterial factors underlying this wide variation are not completely understood, but emphasize the bacterium's capacity to evade/adapt to the genital immune response, and/or exploit local environmental conditions to survive this immune response. IFNγ is considered to be a primary host protective cytokine against endocervical C.

Differential profiles of immune mediators and in vitro HIV infectivity between endocervical and vaginal secretions from women with Chlamydia trachomatis infection: a pilot study.

Chlamydia trachomatis infection is one of the most prevalent bacterial STIs in the USA and worldwide, and women with C. trachomatis infection are at increased risk of acquiring HIV. Because immune activation at the genital mucosa facilitates HIV/SIV infection, C.

Chlamydia trachomatis infection results in a modest pro-inflammatory cytokine response and a decrease in T cell chemokine secretion in human polarized endocervical epithelial cells.

The endocervical epithelium is a major reservoir for Chlamydia trachomatis in women, and genital infections are extended in their duration. Epithelial cells act as mucosal sentinels by secreting cytokines and chemokines in response to pathogen challenge and infection. We therefore determined the signature cytokine and chemokine response of primary-like endocervix-derived epithelial cells in response to a common genital serovar (D) of C.