Nason, Martha C.Patel, Eshan U.Kirkpatrick, Allison R.Prodger, Jessica L.Shahabi, KamnooshTobian, Aaron A. R.Gianella, SaraKalibbala, SarahSsebbowa, PaschalKaul, RupertGray, Ronald H.Quinn, Thomas C.Serwadda, DavidReynolds, Steven J.Redd, Andrew D.2022-01-202022-01-202016Nason, M. C., Patel, E. U., Kirkpatrick, A. R., Prodger, J. L., Shahabi, K., Tobian, A. A., ... & Redd, A. D. (2016, April). Immunological signaling during herpes simplex virus-2 and cytomegalovirus vaginal shedding after initiation of antiretroviral treatment. In Open forum infectious diseases (Vol. 3, No. 2). Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/ofid/ofw07310.1093/ofid/ofw073https://nru.uncst.go.ug/xmlui/handle/123456789/1366Vaginal proinflammatory cytokine expression during herpes virus reactivation was examined in human immunodeficiency virus infected women before and after initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Vaginal swabs were screened for levels of cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-13, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and interferon- γ. The relative risk (RR) of herpes simplex virus-2 or cytomegalovirus (CMV) shedding being associated with cytokine levels above the median were estimated. Herpes simplex virus-2 shedding was significantly associated with higher levels of IL-6 (RR = 1.4, P = .003) and TNF-α (RR = 1.3, P = .010), whereas CMV shedding was associated with higher IL-6 (RR = 1.3, P = .006) and IL-2 (RR = 1.4, P = .01). The association of viral shedding with higher IL-6 levels suggests that herpes virus reactivation may be playing a role in immune activation after ART initiation.enHIVHSV-2CMVCytokineViral sheddingArticle