The cuticle of Caenorhabditis elegans, a complex, multi-layered extracellular matrix, is a major interface between the animal and its environment. Biofilms produced by the bacterial genus Yersinia attach to the cuticle of the worm, providing an assay for surface characteristics. A C. elegans gene required for biofilm attachment, bah-1, encodes a protein containing the domain of unknown function DUF23. The DUF23 domain is found in 61 predicted proteins in C. elegans, which can be divided into three distinct phylogenetic clades. bah-1 is expressed in seam cells, which are among the hypodermal cells that synthesize the cuticle, and is regulated by a TGF-β signaling pathway.
Pharyngeal gonorrhea is common among exposed heterosexual cisgender men and women, and likely represents an underdiagnosed reservoir of gonococcal infections. If empiric treatment is abandoned, testing the throats of heterosexuals is necessary.
Background.-An understanding of the biological reasons why 25%−35% of women resist infection during vaginal intercourse with a man infected with N. gonorrhoeae could lead to novel control measures. We sought modifiable biological bases for infection resistance by comparing women in the same core-mixing group who did or did not become infected after sexual exposure. Methods.-We enrolled 61 female contacts of index men with gonorrhoea seen at Baltimore City Health Department clinics from January 2008 through May 2012. Exposure and sexual practices and histories, co-infections, physical signs on exam, patient symptom report, and menstrual history were collected. Results.-Thirty-eight of the exposed women developed cervical infections (62.3%). Multiple logistic regression found that a vaginal pH ≥4.5 at presentation to clinic was significantly associated with gonococcal infection (adjusted odds ratio 5.5; p = 0.037) in women who presented within one menstrual cycle, 35 days. In this group of women, there was a significant association between acquiring an N. gonorrhoeae cervical infection and sexual exposure during menstruation (adjusted odds ratio 12.5; p = 0.05). Conclusions.-Modification of vaginal pH could be explored as novel strategy for reducing the risk of Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections in women.
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