Abstract

The mucosal immune system of the female reproductive tract is uniquely adapted to facilitate specialized physiological functions whilst eliminating threatening sexually transmitted and environmental pathogens. In the present study, tumor necrotic factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin (IL-10) were evaluated in vaginal discharge of infertile women infected with Chlamydia trachomatis and Candida albicans. A total of 70 women were used in this study when they came for medical consultation at the infertility clinic of Kammal Al-Sammaree Hospital and also at private gynaecology clinics in Baghdad city. For 26 women with infertility disorders, six of them were found infected with C. albicansand 20 had C. trachomatis infection. Another 24 women were fertile including 17 infected with C. albicans and 7 had C. trachomatis infection. In addition, 20 healthy women were selected as control group. Vaginal samples were collected and assessed for TNF-α and IL-10. High vaginal swaps were taken for wet amount, Gram stain and culture. Elevated levels of TNF-α and IL-10 were detected in the vaginal discharge of women with infertility disorders and infected with C. albicans as well as C. trachomatis, and fertile infected women as compared to the control group (p= 0.0005).

Key words:  C. albicans, C. trachomatis, IL10, TNF α, female infertility