Table 5. Meta-analyses of immune mediator concentrations in cervicovaginal samples comparing pre- and post-first sexual intercourse.

Results of random effects meta-analyses using inverse variance pooling. Mean log2 difference values above 0 indicate higher concentrations post-first sex. Ratio indicates the multiplicative ratio of post over pre-sex (on a linear scale), so a ratio of 1 indicates no difference, ratios >1 indicate higher post, and ratios <1 indicate higher pre. Adjusted p-values are adjusted by Holm-Bonferroni for measuring nine immune mediators. I² is a measure of heterogeneity between studies, with a proportion of 0 indicating that all between-study variation can be explained by random sampling and higher I² proportions values indicating clinical, biological, or methodological diversity between studies.

Immune mediator	Mean log2 difference	Standard error	Ratio (95% CI)	p-Value	Adjusted p-value	Number of studies	I2
IL-1α	0.97	0.22	1.96 (1.45–2.64)	1.0E-5	9.1E-5	3	0.28
CXCL8	1.08	0.25	2.12 (1.51–2.98)	1.5E-5	1.2E-4	3	0
CCL5	0.63	0.16	1.55 (1.25–1.91)	5.2E-5	3.6E-4	2	0.05
IL-1β	1.06	0.27	2.09 (1.44–3.03)	9.3E-5	5.6E-4	3	0
IL-6	0.50	0.20	1.41 (1.07–1.86)	0.013	0.066	3	0
CCL4	0.42	0.17	1.34 (1.06–1.7)	0.014	0.066	2	0
CXCL10	0.45	0.32	1.36 (0.88–2.11)	0.164	0.492	2	0.42
CCL20	0.15	0.40	1.11 (0.64–1.92)	0.712	1	2	0.54
TNF-α	–0.17	0.92	0.89 (0.26–3.08)	0.851	1	2	0.89