Cervico-vaginal immunoglobulin g levels increase post-ovulation independently of neutrophils

TY - JOUR

T1 - Cervico-vaginal immunoglobulin g levels increase post-ovulation independently of neutrophils

AU - Schaefer, Katrein

AU - Brown, Najmeeyah

AU - Kaye, Paul M

AU - Lacey, Charles J

N1 - © 2014 Schaefer et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

PY - 2014/12/5

Y1 - 2014/12/5

N2 - The prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is often higher in females than in males. Although the reproductive cycle profoundly modulates local immunity in the female reproductive tract (FRT) system, significant gaps in our knowledge of the immunobiology of the FRT still exist. An intriguing and frequently observed characteristic of the FRT is the predominant presence of immunoglobulin (Ig) G in cervico-vaginal secretions. We show here that in the mouse, IgG accumulation was enhanced approximately 5-fold post-ovulation, and was accompanied by an influx of neutrophils into the FRT. To determine whether these two events were causally related, we performed short-term neutrophil depletion experiments at individual stages throughout the estrous cycle. Our results demonstrate that neutrophils were not necessary for cycle-dependent tissue remodeling and cycle progression and that cycle-dependent IgG accumulation occurred independent of neutrophils. We thus conclude that neutrophil influx and IgG accumulation are independent events that occur in the FRT during the reproductive cycle.

AB - The prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is often higher in females than in males. Although the reproductive cycle profoundly modulates local immunity in the female reproductive tract (FRT) system, significant gaps in our knowledge of the immunobiology of the FRT still exist. An intriguing and frequently observed characteristic of the FRT is the predominant presence of immunoglobulin (Ig) G in cervico-vaginal secretions. We show here that in the mouse, IgG accumulation was enhanced approximately 5-fold post-ovulation, and was accompanied by an influx of neutrophils into the FRT. To determine whether these two events were causally related, we performed short-term neutrophil depletion experiments at individual stages throughout the estrous cycle. Our results demonstrate that neutrophils were not necessary for cycle-dependent tissue remodeling and cycle progression and that cycle-dependent IgG accumulation occurred independent of neutrophils. We thus conclude that neutrophil influx and IgG accumulation are independent events that occur in the FRT during the reproductive cycle.

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0114824

DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0114824

M3 - Article

C2 - 25479383

SN - 1932-6203

VL - 9

JO - PLoS ONE

JF - PLoS ONE

IS - 12

M1 - e114824

ER -