The impact of the ovulatory cycle on cytokine production: Evaluation of systemic, cervicovaginal, and salivary compartments

To understand the impact of the menstrual cycle on immunologic parameters, we measured the level of cytokines and chemokines from plasma, cervicovagin al lavage (CVL), and saliva samples of 6 premenopausal women during the fol licular and luteal phases of the ovulatory cycle. We demonstrate that the l evel of plasma interleukin-8 (IL-8) was 4-fold higher during the follicular phase than the luteal phase (p = 0.004), whereas plasma IL-1 beta, IL-4, I L-6, IL-10, interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), transforming growth factor-beta ( TGF-beta), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha (MIP-1 alpha), and TNF receptor II (TNFR II) were not alte red during the ovulatory cycle. In the vaginal compartment, as measured fro m CVL samples, the levels of IL-6 and IL-1 beta were both 5-fold higher in the follicular than the luteal phase (p = 0.0002 and 0.03, respectively). S alivary cytokine and chemokine samples were similar when measured during th e luteal and the follicular phases. Additional analysis of lymphocyte subse ts for phenotypic and functional markers indicated that they were not influ enced by the ovulatory cycle. Collectively, these data suggest that IL-6, I L-8, and IL-1 beta are differentially regulated during the ovulatory cycle.