{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]],"date-time":"2026-02-17T02:59:33Z","timestamp":1771297173107,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,2]],"date-time":"2021-12-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1638403200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001807","name":"Fapesp","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2012\/16800-3"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2012\/16800-3"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001807","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Aims<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>To compare the cervicovaginal levels of human beta defensin (hBD)-1, 2 and 3 of women according to the status of Nugent-defined bacterial vaginosis (BV).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>A total of 634 women of reproductive age were included in the study. Participants were equally distributed in two groups: according to the classification of vaginal smears according to Nugent criteria in normal (scores 0 to 3) and BV (scores \u22657). Cervicovaginal fluid samples were used for measurements of hBDs1, 2 and 3 levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Levels of each hBD were compared between the two study groups using Mann-Whitney test, with p-value &lt;0.05 considered as significant. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated for sociodemographic variables and hBD1-3 levels associated with BV a multivariable analysis. Correlation between Nugent score and measured levels of hBDs1-3 were calculated using Spearman\u2019s test.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Cervicovaginal fluids from women with BV showed lower levels of hBD-1 [median 2,400.00 pg\/mL (0\u201327,800.00); p&lt;0.0001], hBD-2 [5,600.00 pg\/mL (0\u201345,800.00); p&lt;0.0001] and hBD-3 [1,600.00 pg\/mL (0\u201381,700.00); p = 0.012] when compared to optimal microbiota [hBD-1: [median 3,400.00 pg\/mL (0\u201335,600.00), hBD-2: 12,300.00 pg\/mL (0\u201395,300.00) and hBD-3: 3,000.00 pg\/mL (0\u201364,300.00), respectively]. Multivariable analysis showed that lower levels of hBD-1 (OR: 2.05; 95% CI: 1.46\u20132.87), hBD-2 (OR: 1.85; 95% CI: 1.32\u20132.60) and hBD-3 (OR: 1.90; 95% CI: 1.37\u20132.64) were independently associated BV. Significant negative correlations were observed between Nugent scores and cervicovaginal levels of hBD-1 (Spearman\u2019s rho = -0.2118; p = 0.0001) and hBD-2 (*Spearman\u2019s rho = -0.2117; p = 0.0001).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Bacterial vaginosis is associated with lower cervicovaginal levels of hBDs1-3 in reproductive-aged women.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0260753","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,2]],"date-time":"2021-12-02T19:52:49Z","timestamp":1638474769000},"page":"e0260753","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Cervicovaginal levels of human beta defensins during bacterial vaginosis"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Nathalia Mayumi","family":"Noda-Nicolau","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mariana de Castro","family":"Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Giovana Fernanda Cosi","family":"Bento","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jeniffer Sena Baptista","family":"Ferreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4788-5734","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Juliano","family":"Novak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"J\u00falia Andrade Pessoa","family":"Morales","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"J\u00falia Abbade","family":"Tronco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Aline Nascimento","family":"Bolpetti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4630-9057","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Gabriel Vitor Silva","family":"Pinto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jossimara","family":"Polettini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Camila","family":"Marconi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4663-7926","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"M\u00e1rcia Guimar\u00e3es da","family":"Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,2]]},"reference":[{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0260753.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"361","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cytogfr.2014.12.005","article-title":"Defensins: \u201cSimple\u201d antimicrobial peptides or broad-spectrum molecules?","volume":"26","author":"M Suarez-Carmona","year":"2015","journal-title":"Cytokine Growth Factor Rev"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0260753.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1499","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bbamem.2006.07.007","article-title":"The human beta-defensin-3, an antibacterial peptide with multiple biological functions","volume":"1758","author":"V Dhople","year":"2006","journal-title":"Biochim Biophys Acta\u2014Biomembr"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0260753.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"710","DOI":"10.1038\/nri1180","article-title":"Defensins: antimicrobial peptides of innate immunity","volume":"3","author":"T. 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