Autoimmunity as a factor in recurrent vaginal candidosis and the minor vestibular gland syndrome.

Chronic vaginal candidosis is a significant cause of morbidity in women, but its causes are not yet understood. We propose that in genetically susceptible women a candidal infection elicits responses that cross-react with self-antigens. Control of these deleterious responses may compromise the normal mechanisms of resistance and predispose to recurrent infection. Furthermore, the local inflammation caused by these autoreactive cells may contribute to other forms of vaginitis.