{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,28]],"date-time":"2026-10-28T21:54:09Z","timestamp":1793224449639,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"1","funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000865","name":"Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000865","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"South African National Research Foundation"},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001713","name":"European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001713","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001323","name":"Poliomyelitis Research Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001323","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000200","name":"United States Agency for International Development","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000200","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001322","name":"South African Medical Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001322","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Sex Transm Infect"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2018,6,15]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n<jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Vaginal dysbiosis and STIs are important drivers of the HIV epidemic and reproductive complications. These conditions remain prevalent, partly because most cases are asymptomatic. We have shown that inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1\u03b1, IL-1\u03b2 and interferon-\u03b3-induced protein (IP)-10 are biomarkers for detecting asymptomatic STIs and vaginal dysbiosis (bacterial vaginosis (BV) or intermediate microbiota). This study aimed to validate the performance of these biomarkers in African women recruited regardless of symptoms.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>IL-1\u03b1, IL-1\u03b2 and IP-10 were measured in menstrual cup secretions, endocervical, lateral vaginal wall and vulvovaginal swabs from 550 women from Pretoria, Soweto and Cape Town, South Africa and Bondo, Kenya using Luminex and ELISA. STIs were assessed by PCR, BV by Nugent scoring and vaginal microbiota by 16S rRNA sequencing.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>\nAcross four study populations and four types of genital specimens, the performance of IL-1\u03b1, IL-1\u03b2 and IP-10 for identification of women with STIs, BV or intermediate microbiota was consistent. Of the genital samples assessed, biomarkers measured in lateral vaginal wall swabs performed best, correctly classifying 76%(95% CI 70% to 81%) of women according to STI, BV or intermediate microbiota status (sensitivity 77%, specificity 71%) and were more accurate than clinical symptoms (sensitivity 41%, specificity 57%) (p=0.0003). Women incorrectly classified as STI\/BV positive using the biomarkers had more abundant dysbiosis-associated bacteria, including\n<jats:italic>Prevotella bivia<\/jats:italic>\nand\n<jats:italic>Gardnerella<\/jats:italic>\nsp, detected by 16S rRNA sequencing, but not Nugent scoring. Including vaginal pH with the cytokine biomarkers improved the accuracy of the test (82% (95% CI 75% to 88%) correctly classified), although pH alone had poor specificity (61%).\n<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>An inexpensive, point-of-care screening test including IL-1\u03b1, IL-1\u03b2 and IP-10 (and potentially pH) could be used in resource-limited settings to identify women with asymptomatic STIs and dysbiosis. These women could then be referred for aetiological testing, followed by specific treatment.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/sextrans-2017-053506","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,7,17]],"date-time":"2018-07-17T16:16:41Z","timestamp":1531844201000},"page":"5-12","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":76,"title":["Inflammatory cytokine biomarkers of asymptomatic sexually transmitted infections and vaginal dysbiosis: a multicentre validation study"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"95","author":[{"given":"Lindi","family":"Masson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shaun","family":"Barnabas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jennifer","family":"Deese","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Katie","family":"Lennard","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Smritee","family":"Dabee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hoyam","family":"Gamieldien","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shameem Z","family":"Jaumdally","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anna-Lise","family":"Williamson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francesca","family":"Little","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lut","family":"Van Damme","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Khatija","family":"Ahmed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tania","family":"Crucitti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sa\u00efd","family":"Abdellati","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Linda-Gail","family":"Bekker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Glenda","family":"Gray","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Janan","family":"Dietrich","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Heather","family":"Jaspan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jo-Ann S","family":"Passmore","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,7,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"2024092304402203000_95.1.5.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/infdis\/jis298"},{"key":"2024092304402203000_95.1.5.2","first-page":"255","volume-title":"Seminars in Neonatology","volume":"5","author":"Moodley","year":"2000"},{"key":"2024092304402203000_95.1.5.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/cid\/civ298"},{"key":"2024092304402203000_95.1.5.4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"213","DOI":"10.1111\/1471-0528.13115","article-title":"The vaginal microbiome, vaginal anti-microbial defence mechanisms and the clinical challenge of reducing infection-related preterm birth","volume":"122","author":"Witkin","year":"2015","journal-title":"BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology"},{"key":"2024092304402203000_95.1.5.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.immuni.2016.12.013"},{"key":"2024092304402203000_95.1.5.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.aai9383"},{"key":"2024092304402203000_95.1.5.7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"297","DOI":"10.1128\/jcm.29.2.297-301.1991","article-title":"Reliability of diagnosing bacterial vaginosis is improved by a standardized method of gram stain interpretation","volume":"29","author":"Nugent","year":"1991","journal-title":"J Clin Microbiol"},{"key":"2024092304402203000_95.1.5.8","unstructured":"World Health Organization. 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