Immunocompetent cells in uterine cervical lesions of human papillomavirus origin.

To elucidate the local immunological reactions operative in the human papillomavirus (HPV)-induced lesions of the uterine cervix, a total of 150 cervical biopsies containing a dysplastic or a neoplastic change with (CO, 97 cases) or without (NCO, 53 cases) a coexistent HPV lesion (a flat, an inverted or a papillomatous condyloma) were subjected to ANAE (acid alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase) staining of the immunocompetent cells; B and T lymphocytes, mononuclear phagocytes (MPS cells). In addition, HPV antigens were demonstrated by an indirect immunoperoxidase-PAP method. Age of the patients did not influence the proportions of B, T and MPS cells. Degree of epithelial atypia was inversely related to proportion of B cells in NCO but not in CO series, and directly related to proportions of T cells in CO series, the latter T cell increase being most probably ascribable to the appearance of suppressor T cells. Unlike in the different types of skin warts (caused by divergent HPV types), the type of the cervical condyloma did not affect the proportions of B, T and MPS cells, suggesting a common HPV type as a causative agent of the latter. MPS and T cells were more numerous in HPV-positive condylomas than in HPV-negative ones, supporting the concept that cell-mediated immune mechanisms recognize the surface antigens of the virus-transformed cells coded by the viral genome in the host cell nuclei (HPV+). The findings are discussed in terms of the immune mechanisms involved in rejection of HPV lesions in general, and those of the uterine cervix especially. The full significance of these mechanisms can only be understood when adequate follow-up data of the lesions are at hand.