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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: BACKGROUND, METHODS, RESULTS. Meshes: Adult, Benin, Cells, Cultured, Chemokine CCL3, Chemokine CCL4, Chemokine CCL7, Chemokine CXCL9, Female, Gene Expression Regulation, Genitalia, Female, HIV Infections, HIV-1, Humans, Immunity, Mucosal, Occupational Exposure, Risk Factors.
user
Are chemokine expression patterns in the systemic and genital tract compartments associated with HIV-1 infection in women from Benin? Context: Understanding the genital mucosal immunity and the factors involved in linking innate to adaptive immunity is crucial for the design of efficient preventive strategies against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1. Levels of both genital mucosal and blood chemokines were compared between 58 HIV-1-uninfected and 50 HIV-1-infected female commercial sex workers (CSWs) as well as 53 HIV-1-uninfected non-CSW control women at low risk for exposure, recruited in Cotonou, Benin. HIV-1-infected CSWs had significantly higher blood and genital levels of monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP-3/CCL7) and monokine induced by gamma interferon (MIG/CXCL9) compared with those in both the HIV-1-uninfected CSW and non-CSW groups. In the HIV-1-infected group, levels of MCP-3 and MIG were significantly higher in the genital mucosa than in the blood. However, the blood levels of macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP-1a/CCL3) and MIP-1b/CCL4 were higher in HIV-1-uninfected CSWs compared with those in the other groups.
assistant
Increased production of chemokines in the genital tract may favour the recruitment of HIV-1 target cells causing a mucosal environment that promotes viral replication and dissemination, whereas higher expression of beta-chemokines at the systemic level is associated with protection from HIV-1 infection. Final Decision: yes