Altered expression levels of HLA class Ⅱ and costimulatory molecules on circulating monocytes from patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and squamous cervical cancer.

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the cell surface expression levels of HLA class I and II molecules, the costimulatory molecules CD80/B7-1 and CD86/B7-2, and the adhesion molecules CD54 and CD58 during cervical carcinogenesis. The expression levels of MHC class I and II molecules, the costimulatory molecules CD80/B7-1 and CD86/B7-2 and the adhesion molecules CD54 and CD58 on CD14+ peripheral blood monocytes (PBMs) from 21 cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) II-III, 51 squamous cervical carcinomas (SCCs) and 18 healthy controls were analyzed using flow cytometry analysis. We found increased expression levels of HLA-DR (p=0.000), HLA-DQ (p=0.000), CD86/B7-2 (p=0.002) and CD58 (p=0.000) on PBMs from patients with SCC and CIN II-III, compared with healthy control subjects, whereas no significant difference existed in the expression levels of HLA class I antigens, HLA-DP CD80/B7-1 and CD54. Upregulated expression levels of HLA-DR, HLA-DQ, CD86/B7-2 and CD58 were associated with disease progression, indicating that an increased expression of HLA-DR, HLA-DQ, CD86/B7-2 and CD58 on PBMs may be correlated with the evolution of cervical cancer.