CD4 and gonorrhea: Regardless, in the context of co-infection with HIV-1, pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF are abundantly produced upon gonococcal infection of human fallopian tube cultures, and promote cellular apoptosis and a breach in epithelial integrity (Morales et al., 2006), as well as increased HIV-1 expression in infected CD4+ T cells (Ferreira et al., 2011).