Department of Pharmaceutical Biochemistry, Department of Oro-Maxillary Surgery, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania;
Rom J Morphol Embryol. 2023 Apr-Jun;64(2):181-188. doi: 10.47162/RJME.64.2.08.
Oral papillomatosis represents a benign lesion of the oral mucosa often induced by human papillomavirus (HPV) or having a non-infection local or general etiology. HPVs are very well adapted and efficient viruses able to produce changes in the immune system, endowed with the ability to replicate in the keratinocytes and to remain silent. The natural evolution of HPV infection is different, depending on the efficiency of the innate immune system. The purpose of this study was to explore Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) immunohistochemical expression in low-risk (LR)-HPV oral infection and its ability to facilitate an efficient immune response by activating the macrophages, which serve as main antigen-presenting cells. Samples of two groups of oral mucosae - LR-HPV-positive and HPV-negative - were processed for immunohistochemistry technique and incubated with antibody against TLR9 and cluster of differentiation 68 (CD68). Image analysis and morphometry were conducted to assess the intensity of TLR9 immune signal in the epithelium and the number of macrophages labeled by CD68. We found a statistically significant difference between macrophage count for the subjects in HPV-positive and HPV-negative groups; thought no significant differences of TLR9 immune signal was noted, which demonstrates a diminished immune response in HPV-positive group, probably influencing the time of lesion's clearance.
口腔乳头状瘤病是口腔黏膜的良性病变，常由人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）引起，或具有非感染性的局部或全身病因。HPV 是适应性和效率非常高的病毒，能够对免疫系统产生影响，具有在角质形成细胞中复制并保持沉默的能力。HPV 感染的自然演变因先天免疫系统的效率而异。本研究旨在探讨 Toll 样受体 9（TLR9）在低风险（LR）-HPV 口腔感染中的免疫组织化学表达及其通过激活巨噬细胞促进有效免疫反应的能力，巨噬细胞作为主要的抗原提呈细胞。对两组口腔黏膜样本（LR-HPV 阳性和 HPV 阴性）进行免疫组织化学技术处理，并与针对 TLR9 和分化簇 68（CD68）的抗体孵育。进行图像分析和形态计量学评估以评估 TLR9 免疫信号在上皮中的强度和 CD68 标记的巨噬细胞数量。我们发现 HPV 阳性和 HPV 阴性组之间的巨噬细胞计数存在统计学显著差异；尽管 TLR9 免疫信号没有显著差异，但 HPV 阳性组的免疫反应减弱，这可能影响病变清除的时间。
