Table 1. Levels of immune mediators and endogenous antimicrobial activity in female genital tract samples by collection sites and methods.
| Collection methoda | DS Vag | FS Vag | DS Cer | FS Cer | CVL | p-valued |
| Protein (µg/ml) | 89c (18–1652) | 205 (0–836) | 174 (20–4365) | 349.5 (18–6804) | 694 (664–836) | <0.001 |
| GM-CSF (pg/ml) | 1.5 (0.5–3.0) | 1.6 (0.5–8.1) | 1.6 (0.5–11.5) | 1.6 (0.5–15.8) | 1.6 (0.5–7.1) | <0.001 |
| IL-1β (pg/ml) | 1.6 (0.1–83.4) | 5.1 (0.1–214) | 6.1 (0.2–711) | 16.1 (0–1140) | 5.8 (0.1–482.9) | <0.001 |
| IL-6 (pg/ml) | 0.3 (0.1–24.0) | 0.5 (0.3–140) | 17.2 (0.03–564) | 42.1 (0.1–578) | 8.6 (0.1–92.9) | <0.001 |
| IL-8 (pg/ml) | 340.0 (11.2–3744) | 342.6 (0.1–2883) | 1104 (21.3–13557) | 1687 (121–5455) | 202.3 (2.7–3186.3) | <0.001 |
| IL-12p40 (pg/ml) | 1.6 (0.1–9.1) | 1.6 (1.1–8.4) | 2.0 (0.2–17.0) | 2.9 (0.2–35.0) | 2.8 (0.1–48.5) | <0.001 |
| Lf (ng/ml) | 254.2 (2.4–2657) | 294.2 (6.0–6213) | 868.0 (2.0–8472) | 1092 (9.8–14467) | 282.2 (8.0–4776.7) | <0.001 |
| SLPI (ng/ml) | 219.5 (3.1–1361) | 261.8 (4.7–3304) | 411.3 (31.0–3222) | 787.1 (68.6–4454) | 253.2 (2.8–3908) | <0.001 |
| HNP1-3 (µg/ml) | 16.2 (4.7–520.5) | 16.6 (4.6–507.5) | 56.5 (2.4–321.8) | 82.8 (5.4–594.8) | 48.0 (16.0–4307) | 0.02 |
| Anti-E. coli (% inh.) b | 27.5 (−22–79) | 50.5 (4–99) | 25 (−11–93) | 59.5 (−0.1–100) | 78 (20–100) | <0.001 |
| Anti-HIV-1 (% inh.) | 49 (−188–91) | 59 (−42–100) | 26.5 (−112-100) | 63 (−26–117) | 48.5 (−7–99.5) | <0.001 |
a
DS Vag, Dacron vaginal swab; FS Vag, flocked vaginal swab; DS Cer, Dacron endocervical swab; FS Cer, flocked endocervical swab; CVL, cervicovaginal lavage.
b
% inhibition – negative values reflect increased growth of E. coli or enhancement of infection of HIV-1.
c
median (range).
d
p-value: Global p-value based on the comparison of protein-adjusted, log-transformed immune mediators and endogenous antimicrobial activities by collection sites and methods.