ArticleMucosal immunology2017
Vaginal lactic acid elicits an anti-inflammatory response from human cervicovaginal epithelial cells and inhibits production of pro-inflammatory mediators associated with HIV acquisition.
Article in Mucosal immunology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 143 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
143 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 218 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Effect of Exogenous Sex Steroids on the Vaginal Microbiota: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2021Pooled it
- Lactic acid-containing products for bacterial vaginosis and their impact on the vaginal microbiota: A systematic review.PloS one · 2021Pooled it
- Adjunct vaginal lactic acid with single-dose metronidazole for bacterial vaginosis: a randomized controlled trial.BMC women's health · 2026Trial
- Sustained effect of LACTIN-V (Lactobacillus crispatus CTV-05) on genital immunology following standard bacterial vaginosis treatment: results from a randomised, placebo-controlled trial.The Lancet. Microbe · 2022Trial
- ProbioticFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2021Trial
- Combined oral contraceptive pill-exposure alone does not reduce the risk of bacterial vaginosis recurrence in a pilot randomised controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2019Trial
- Antimicrobial and inflammatory properties of South African clinical Lactobacillus isolates and vaginal probiotics.Scientific reports · 2019Trial
- The cervicovaginal gut microbiota axis as a key determinant of systemic physiology.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- 3D cell assemblies for controlled evaluation of response to dual agent delivery nanofibers targeting bacterial vaginosis.Biomaterials advances · 2026Article
- Characterization of vaginal lactobacilli from South African women toward the development of a biotherapeutic to optimize the vaginal microbiome.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Genitourinary microbiota in older women: a persistent knowledge gap that limits clinical and research progress.Infection and immunity · 2026Review
- The Impact of the Vaginal Microbiome and Microbial Metabolites on HIV Transmission at the Female Reproductive Tract Epithelial Barrier.American journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989) · 2026Review
- Microbiota-Derived Corisin Is Elevated in Early Cervical Neoplasia and Drives Pathogenic Cellular Programs.Cells · 2026Article
- Multiomic analysis reveals that polyamines alter G. vaginalis-induced cervicovaginal epithelial cell dysfunction.Research square · 2026Article
- Beyond the Barrier: Epithelial Cells as Immune Sentinels in the Female Genital Tract.American journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989) · 2026Review
- Induction of Human β-Defensin-2 by VaginalOpen forum infectious diseases · 2026Article
- The Nugent score is an inappropriate diagnostic tool for neovaginal bacteria in transfeminine people.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- The vital role of Lactobacillus sp. in vaginal health: Implications for enhanced prophylactic research.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2026Review
- Cervicovaginal microbiome alterations across HPV infection.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- The microbiota-host metabolic axis in cervical cancer: from homeostatic disruption to mechanisms of therapy resistance.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Review
83 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Inflammation in the female reproductive tract (FRT) is associated with increased HIV transmission. Lactobacillus spp. dominate the vaginal microbiota of many women and their presence is associated with reduced HIV acquisition. Here we demonstrate that lactic acid (LA), a major organic acid metabolite produced by lactobacilli, mediates anti-inflammatory effects on human cervicovaginal epithelial cells. Treatment of human vaginal and cervical epithelial cell lines with LA (pH 3.9) elicited significant increases in the production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-1RA. When added simultaneously or prior to stimulation, LA inhibited the Toll-like receptor agonist-elicited production of inflammatory mediators IL-6, IL-8, TNFα, RANTES, and MIP3α from epithelial cell lines and prevented IL-6 and IL-8 production by seminal plasma. The anti-inflammatory effect of LA was mediated by the protonated form present at pH≤3.86 and was observed with both L- and D-isomers. A similar anti-inflammatory effect of LA was observed in primary cervicovaginal cells and in an organotypic epithelial tissue model. These findings identify a novel property of LA that acts directly on epithelial cells to inhibit FRT inflammation and highlights the potential use of LA-containing agents in the lower FRT as adjuncts to female-initiated strategies to reduce HIV acquisition.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.