{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,2]],"date-time":"2026-05-02T23:34:56Z","timestamp":1777764896877,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,6]],"date-time":"2024-09-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1725580800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"U.S. President\u2019s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through United States Agency for International Development (USAID)","award":["AID-OAA-A-160032"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["AID-OAA-A-160032"]}]},{"name":"U.S. President\u2019s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through United States Agency for International Development (USAID)","award":["H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018-812969"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018-812969"]}]},{"name":"U.S. President\u2019s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through United States Agency for International Development (USAID)","award":["833247"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["833247"]}]},{"name":"FunHoMic ITN grant of the Horizon 2020 program","award":["AID-OAA-A-160032"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["AID-OAA-A-160032"]}]},{"name":"FunHoMic ITN grant of the Horizon 2020 program","award":["H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018-812969"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018-812969"]}]},{"name":"FunHoMic ITN grant of the Horizon 2020 program","award":["833247"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["833247"]}]},{"name":"ERC Advanced","award":["AID-OAA-A-160032"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["AID-OAA-A-160032"]}]},{"name":"ERC Advanced","award":["H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018-812969"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018-812969"]}]},{"name":"ERC Advanced","award":["833247"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["833247"]}]},{"name":"Spinoza grant of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research","award":["AID-OAA-A-160032"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["AID-OAA-A-160032"]}]},{"name":"Spinoza grant of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research","award":["H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018-812969"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018-812969"]}]},{"name":"Spinoza grant of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research","award":["833247"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["833247"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JoF"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) affects up to 75% of women at least once during their lifetime, and up to 8% of women suffer from frequent recurrent episodes of VVC (RVVC). A lack of a protective host response underlies vaginal Candida infections, while a dysregulated hyperinflammatory response may drive RVVC. This study aimed to investigate the systemic inflammatory protein profile in women with RVVC in an African population, considering the potential influence of hormonal contraceptive use on systemic inflammation. Using multiplex Proximity Extension Assay technology, we measured 92 circulatory inflammatory proteins in plasma samples from 158 RVVC patients and 92 asymptomatic women (controls). Hormonal contraceptive use was not found to have a statistically significant correlation with a systemic inflammatory protein profile in either RVVC patients or the asymptomatic women. RVVC women had lower circulating Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 (FGF-21) concentrations compared with healthy controls (adjusted p value = 0.028). Reduced concentrations of FGF-21 may be linked to the immune pathology observed in RVVC cases through IL-1\u03b2. This study may help to identify new biomarkers for the diagnosis and future development of novel immunomodulatory treatments for RVVC.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jof10090638","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,6]],"date-time":"2024-09-06T03:22:46Z","timestamp":1725592966000},"page":"638","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Plasma Inflammatory Proteome Profile in a Cohort of Patients with Recurrent Vulvovaginal Candidiasis in Kenya"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2992-2503","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Diletta","family":"Rosati","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Isis","family":"Rica\u00f1o Ponce","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gloria S.","family":"Omosa-Manyonyi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi, Nairobi P.O. Box 19676, Kenya"},{"name":"KAVI-Institute of Clinical Research (KAVI-ICR), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi, Nairobi P.O. Box 19676, Kenya"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5353-7691","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mariolina","family":"Bruno","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-2691-2609","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nelly W.","family":"Kamau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"KAVI-Institute of Clinical Research (KAVI-ICR), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi, Nairobi P.O. Box 19676, Kenya"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6994-493X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martin","family":"Jaeger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2775-6049","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vinod","family":"Kumar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands"},{"name":"Department of Genetics, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713 GZ Groningen, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mihai G.","family":"Netea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands"},{"name":"Department of Immunology and Metabolism, Life and Medical Sciences Institute (LIMES), University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1833-3391","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andre J. A. M.","family":"van der Ven","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jaap","family":"ten Oever","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e339","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(18)30103-8","article-title":"Global burden of recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis: A systematic review","volume":"18","author":"Denning","year":"2018","journal-title":"Lancet Infect. 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