Racial differences in cervical cytokine concentrations between pregnant women with and without bacterial vaginosis

We have examined the association between cervical cytokine, chemokine and growth factor concentrations with bacterial vaginosis (BV) in pregnant white and black women. A nested case–control analysis was performed to examine 28 cervical cytokine, chemokine and growth factor concentrations in 83 white women (55 with normal flora and 28 with BV) and 81 black women (39 with normal flora and 42 with BV). White women with BV had significantly lower IP10 (P = 0.001) and MCP1 (P = 0.006) concentrations compared to women with normal flora. Black women with BV had higher IL-1α (P < 0.001) concentrations than those with normal flora. In women with normal flora, whites had significantly higher levels of IL-1α (P = 0.047), IL-6 (P = 0.010), IL-10 (P = 0.016) and PDGF-BB (P = 0.010) than blacks. There were no significant concentration differences between white and black women with BV. These results demonstrate significant differences in cytokine and chemokine concentrations between women with and without BV. Ethnic differences in cytokine concentrations were also observed in women with normal flora, indicating that white and black women with normal flora have different cytokine levels, but respond to BV in a similar manner.