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Cervical Concentrations of Interleukin-10 and Interleukin-12 Do Not Correlate with Plasma Levels

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Abstract

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infects the transformation zone of the cervix and is the primary cause of cervical cancer. The infection is localized to the cervix and mucosal immunity is likely to be an important determinant for viral clearance. Previous studies of immunity to HPV have measured immune markers in the blood, but the relationship of systemic immunity to cervical immunity is poorly understood. In this study of 70 women enrolled in the ASCUS-LSIL Triage Study (ALTS), a clinical trial for management of low-grade cytologic abnormalities of the cervix, we collected paired plasma and cervical secretions to investigate the relationship between cervical concentrations of interleukin-10 (IL-10) and interleukin-12 (IL-12) and plasma levels. Neither IL-10 (ρ = 0.11), or IL-12 (ρ = −0.04) nor the ratio of IL-12 to IL-10 (ρ = 0.06) were correlated between blood and cervical secretions. Except for weak correlations of IL-10 among nonsmokers (ρ = 0.35, P = 0.019) and those in day 18–27 of their menstrual cycle (ρ = 0.51, P = 0.015), this lack of correlation persisted in all subgroups defined by genital inflammation or infection, current oral contraceptive use, heme contamination and volume of collected secretions, HPV16 seropositivity, and repeat HPV infection and/or cytologic abnormalities. The lack of correlation and high concentrations in cervical secretions indicate that the cervical IL-10 and IL-12 concentrations exceed what could be expected from blood as a principle source of IL-10 and IL-12 and suggest that cytokine concentrations in cervical secretions are predominantly the result of local cytokine production.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland, USA

    Philip E. Castle & Allan Hildesheim

  2. Departments of Obstetrics, Department ofGynecology, and Department ofReproductive Biology, Fearing Research Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Fredrick P. Bowman

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Department ofSocial Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA

    Howard D. Strickler

  4. Department of Obstetrics and Department ofGynecology, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

    Joan L. Walker & Terri Pustilnik

  5. Department of Obstetrics, Department ofGynecology, and Department ofReproductive Sciences, Magee-Women's Hospital, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

    Robert P. Edwards & Peggy A. Crowley-Nowick

Authors
  1. Philip E. Castle
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  2. Allan Hildesheim
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  3. Fredrick P. Bowman
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  4. Howard D. Strickler
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  5. Joan L. Walker
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  6. Terri Pustilnik
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  7. Robert P. Edwards
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  8. Peggy A. Crowley-Nowick
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Castle, P.E., Hildesheim, A., Bowman, F.P. et al. Cervical Concentrations of Interleukin-10 and Interleukin-12 Do Not Correlate with Plasma Levels. J Clin Immunol 22, 23–27 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014252402630

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014252402630

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