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Persistence of Trichomonas vaginalis serostatus in men over time

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Abstract

Purpose

Previous epidemiologic studies have observed positive associations between Trichomonas vaginalis (Tv) serostatus and both prostate cancer (PCa) risk and mortality. However, only a few small older studies have examined Tv antibody persistence over time, all of which were composed mainly of female patients. Therefore, we examined Tv antibody persistence over time, as well as intra-individual variability, among middle- to older-aged men in the Southern Community Cohort Study (SCCS).

Methods

We tested baseline and repeat plasma specimens (collected 1–3 years later) from 248 male participants for Tv antibodies. We used the same enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay as in previous studies of Tv serostatus and PCa.

Results

At baseline, 46 (18.5 %) participants were seropositive for Tv infection. Seventy-six percent of these men were still seropositive 1–3 years later. A similar proportion of men “seroconverted” (4.0 %) as “seroreverted” (4.4 %), all of whom had absorbance values near the cutoff point for seropositivity. Overall, substantial agreement was observed between baseline and repeat serostatus (κ = 0.72, 95 % confidence interval 0.60–0.83).

Conclusion

Tv seropositivity was largely persistent between plasma specimens collected 1–3 years apart from middle- to older-aged men. These high levels of persistence are similar to those observed for other sexually transmitted infections frequently investigated in relation to PCa.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Ratna Pakpahan for assistance with Fig. 1.

Financial support

This study was funded by Grant R01 CA092447 from the National Cancer Institute. S.S. was funded by the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Public Health Sciences and the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave., Box 8100, Rm. 208S, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA

    Siobhan Sutcliffe

  2. School of Molecular Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA

    John F. Alderete, Calvin Neace & Patrick A. Joyce

  3. Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Charlotte A. Gaydos

  4. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    James I. A. Huth, Lorelei A. Mucci & Lisa B. Signorello

Authors
  1. Siobhan Sutcliffe
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  2. John F. Alderete
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  3. Calvin Neace
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  4. Patrick A. Joyce
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  5. Charlotte A. Gaydos
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  6. James I. A. Huth
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  7. Lorelei A. Mucci
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  8. Lisa B. Signorello
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Siobhan Sutcliffe.

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Sutcliffe, S., Alderete, J.F., Neace, C. et al. Persistence of Trichomonas vaginalis serostatus in men over time. Cancer Causes Control 26, 1461–1466 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-015-0642-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-015-0642-0

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