Data showing differential expression of Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in response to symptomatic and asymptomatic T. vaginalis infection.

Abstract Trichomoniasis is caused by Trichomonas vaginalis (a protozoan parasite). About 80% of the infected cases remain asymptomatic [1] . The differential response of showing symptoms or no symptoms is not yet explored. However, some studies gave us some insights on the pathogenesis of trichomonas and also about host defense mechanism. Host secretes pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines to evade infection. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1/CCL2) is a strong chemoattractant of monocytes, NK-cells and T-lymphocytes. Many reports have shown high MCP-1 levels during trichomonas infection [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] in human prostate stromal myofibroblast cells (WPMY-1), HeLa cells, vaginal epithelial cells (VECs) but levels in response to symptomatic and asymptomatic isolates is not yet reported. In this article, we have reported MCP-1 levels in the vaginal washes and serum samples of BALB/c mouse infected with symptomatic and asymptomatic T. vaginalis isolates for different time points. We found higher levels of MCP-1 in vaginal washes of symptomatic group on 2nd day post infection (dpi) than control uninfected group. While on 4th dpi and 14th dpi, higher levels of MCP-1 in vaginal washes was observed in asymptomatic group as compared to control group. However, significant level of MCP-1 was observed in asymptomatic group on 14th dpi as compared to symptomatic group in vaginal washes. We have also observed significantly higher levels of MCP-1 in the serum samples of symptomatic group on 2nd, 4th and 14th dpi as compared to control group. A higher level of MCP-1 was found at all the time points in serum samples of asymptomatic group as compared to control group. Interestingly, a significant higher level of MCP-1 was found in the serum samples of BALB/c mice in asymptomatic as compared to symptomatic group. The MCP-1 levels in both vaginal washes and serum were significantly higher in asymptomatic group at later time points.