ScienceDaily: Bacterial Communities of Female Genital Tract Have Impact on Inflammation, HIV Risk

A team led by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard has found that the most common bacterial community in the genital tract among healthy South African women not only is significantly different from that of women in developed countries but also leads to elevated levels of inflammatory proteins. In a paper in the May 19 issue of Immunity, the investigators describe finding potential mechanisms by which particular bacterial species induce inflammation and show that the presence of those species and of elevated levels of inflammatory proteins could increase the risk of HIV infection.

Source: ScienceDaily