AUTHOR=Guvenc Furkan , Kaul Rupert , Gray-Owen Scott D. 

TITLE=Intimate Relations: Molecular and Immunologic Interactions Between Neisseria gonorrhoeae and HIV-1

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.01299

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2020.01299

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>While the global incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) remains well above UNAIDS targets, sexual transmission HIV is surprisingly inefficient. A variety of host, viral and environmental factors can either increase HIV-1 shedding in the infected partner and/or increase mucosal susceptibility of the HIV-1 uninfected partner. Clinical and epidemiological studies have clearly established that <italic>Neisseria gonorrhoeae</italic> substantially enhances HIV-1 transmission, despite it not being an ulcerative infection. This review will consider findings from molecular, immunologic and clinical studies that have focused on each of these two human-restricted pathogens, in order to develop an integrative model that describes how gonococci can both increase mucosal shedding of HIV-1 from a co-infected person and facilitate virus establishment in a susceptible host.</p>