TY - JOUR
T1 - Penile bacteria associated with HIV seroconversion, inflammation, and immune cells
AU - Prodger, Jessica L.
AU - Abraham, Alison G.
AU - Tobian, Aaron A.R.
AU - Park, Daniel E.
AU - Aziz, Maliha
AU - Roach, Kelsey
AU - Gray, Ronald H.
AU - Buchanan, Lane
AU - Kigozi, Godfrey
AU - Galiwango, Ronald M.
AU - Ssekasanvu, Joseph
AU - Nnamutete, James
AU - Kagaayi, Joseph
AU - Kaul, Rupert
AU - Liu, Cindy M.
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to acknowledge the contribution of the dedicated men and women of Rakai, whose participation made this study possible. This work was supported by grants from the NIH (R01AI123002-01A1 to CML and RHG, R01AI087409-01A1 to RHG, U01AI51171 to RHG, R01AI128779 to AART) and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (TMI-138656 to RK). The contents of this publication are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Prodger et al. This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
PY - 2021/4/1
Y1 - 2021/4/1
N2 - The foreskin is a site of heterosexual acquisition of HIV-1 among uncircumcised men. However, some men remain HIV-negative despite repeated, unprotected vaginal intercourse with HIV-positive partners, while others become infected after few exposures. The foreskin microbiome includes a diverse group of anaerobic bacteria that have been linked to HIV acquisition. However, these anaerobes tend to coassociate, making it difficult to determine which species might increase HIV risk and which may be innocent bystanders. Here, we show that 6 specific anaerobic bacterial species, Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, Prevotella bivia, Prevotella disiens, Dialister propionicifaciens, Dialister micraerophilus, and a genetic near neighbor of Dialister succinatiphilus, significantly increased cytokine production, recruited HIV-susceptible CD4+ T cells to the inner foreskin, and were associated with HIV acquisition. This strongly suggests that the penile microbiome increases host susceptibility to HIV and that these species are potential targets for microbiome-based prevention strategies.
AB - The foreskin is a site of heterosexual acquisition of HIV-1 among uncircumcised men. However, some men remain HIV-negative despite repeated, unprotected vaginal intercourse with HIV-positive partners, while others become infected after few exposures. The foreskin microbiome includes a diverse group of anaerobic bacteria that have been linked to HIV acquisition. However, these anaerobes tend to coassociate, making it difficult to determine which species might increase HIV risk and which may be innocent bystanders. Here, we show that 6 specific anaerobic bacterial species, Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, Prevotella bivia, Prevotella disiens, Dialister propionicifaciens, Dialister micraerophilus, and a genetic near neighbor of Dialister succinatiphilus, significantly increased cytokine production, recruited HIV-susceptible CD4+ T cells to the inner foreskin, and were associated with HIV acquisition. This strongly suggests that the penile microbiome increases host susceptibility to HIV and that these species are potential targets for microbiome-based prevention strategies.
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U2 - 10.1172/jci.insight.147363
DO - 10.1172/jci.insight.147363
M3 - Article
C2 - 33884964
AN - SCOPUS:85105678607
SN - 2379-3708
VL - 6
JO - JCI Insight
JF - JCI Insight
IS - 8
M1 - e147363
ER -