TNF and bacterial vaginosis: Overall, consistent with the presence of BV-associated microbiomes, a high concentration of pro-inflammatory cytokines was detected in the vaginal environment of CIN patients, including IL1α, IL1β, IL6, IL8, and TNFα, with the highest values found in the CST-IV profile compared to the others, confirming that BV-like vaginal microbiomes are associated with increased local inflammation (Campisciano et al., 2018; De Seta et al., 2019; Torcia, 2019).