Current Issues and Considerations Regarding Trichomoniasis and Human Immunodeficiency Virus in African-Americans

Abstract

SUMMARY Trichomonas vaginalis has long been recognized as one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted infections. However, it is only in recent years that it has been appreciated that Trichomonas may play a critical role in amplifying human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission. Given the evidence that T. vaginalis likely promotes HIV infection, the apparent high level of Trichomonas infection in the African-American community is cause for concern. Even if T. vaginalis increases the risk of HIV transmission by a small or modest amount, it translates into a sizable population effect since Trichomonas is so common in this community. Therefore, control of trichomoniasis may represent an important avenue of control for the prevention of HIV transmission, particularly among African-Americans.

Regulation of Nuclear Translocation of the Myb1 Transcription Factor by TvCyclophilin 1 in the Protozoan Parasite Trichomonas vaginalis

“…Upon infection, the parasite trophozoites can breach the mucosal and epithelial barriers, lyse red blood cells, degrade complements and other humoral factors in host defense, and elicit chronic inflammation (1,4). The infection has also been linked to the elevated transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and human papillomaviruses (1,3,5,6), making this overlooked pathogen a threat to public health.…”

“…The infection usually manifests mild symptoms or is asymptomatic, but it can cause adverse events during pregnancy that range from low birth weight at birth to abortion and stillbirth (2). Curative chemotherapy is available, but transmission is difficult to control, and reports on clinical drug-resistant isolates have been increasing in recent years (2,3). Upon infection, the parasite trophozoites can breach the mucosal and epithelial barriers, lyse red blood cells, degrade complements and other humoral factors in host defense, and elicit chronic inflammation (1,4).…”

“…These Myb proteins share the conserved R2R3 DNA-binding domains (DBDs) 3 of the eukaryotic Myb protein family (19), but each has a variable N or C terminus that is much shorter than the variable C-terminal regulatory regions of vertebrate c-Myb, A-Myb, and B-Myb (20). Similar to c-Myb, the DBDs in Myb1, Myb2, and Myb3 are composed of six helices arranged in two bundles with two antiparallel ␤-sheets unique to Myb3 forming a small hairpin following the helices (21)(22)(23).…”

Investigation of the presence of Trichomonas vaginalis in infertile Turkish women

“…Culture and staining techniques may be used in diagnosis of disease in samples taken from vaginal, urethral, prostatic secretions, and urine [12,13]. Culture is considered to be the criterion standard for diagnosis of trichomoniasis with a sensitivity of 95% [12].…”

IL-10 release by bovine epithelial cells cultured with Trichomonas vaginalis and Tritrichomonas foetus

“…These parasites are capable of causing severe vaginal, prostatic and urethral inflammation, which are linked to infertility and adverse pregnancy outcomes in their hosts (BonDurant 2005, Johnston & Mabey 2008. T. vaginalis infection typically elicits aggressive, local cellular immune responses that cause inflammation in the vaginal epithelium and ectocervix in women and in the urethra in men (Shafir et al 2009). There are few studies that address the responses of host cells to T. vaginalis and T. foetus infection.…”