Collection and Processing of Mucosal Secretions from HIV-1 Infected Women

The major route of transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) worldwide, like other agents of sexually transmitted disease, is via mucosal surfaces of the genital tract through sexual exposures (1 –4 ). It has been hypothesized that immune responses at these sites may be important determinants of protection against HIV-1 (1 ,2 ,5 ). Because of the potential relationship of mucosal immune responses to protection against HIV-1 infection, an assessment of immune responses at these sites in vaccine trial participants will be critical. Proper collection and processing of specimens from mucosal sites is of vital importance to the measurement of mucosal immune responses. This chapter details the collection and processing procedures of specimens from three distinct mucosal compartments in female subjects. Collection techniques for additional mucosal compartments (e.g. semen, rectal, etc.) can be found in ref. 6 (see Note 1 ).