Relationship between types of human papillomavirus and Langerhans' cells in cervical condyloma and intraepithelial neoplasia.

Planimetric and immunohistologic studies of Langerhans' cells were performed on epithelial sheets dissected from paired biopsy specimens removed from histopathologically normal and abnormal areas of cervices infected by the human papillomavirus. The results showed that epithelial lesions associated with human papillomavirus types classically not related to malignancy (such as types 6 and 11) showed a similar decrease in the Langerhans' cell number to that induced by types 16 and 18. This phenomenon was analyzed in condylomas and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of low degree, in which human papillomavirus DNA was detected by Southern blot. On the other hand, a significant decrease was observed in Langerhans' cell number in areas of condyloma and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia compared to normal (control) areas from the same patients. It was also confirmed that Langerhans' cell density increases along with the grade of intraepithelial neoplasia.