Cytokine expression profiles in cervical mucus from patients with cervical cancer and its precursor lesions.

Cytokine expression profiles in cervical mucus from patients with cervical cancer and its precursor lesions. Cytokine. 2019 May 20;120:210-219 Authors: Otani S, Fujii T, Kukimoto I, Yamamoto N, Tsukamoto T, Ichikawa R, Nishio E, Iwata A Abstract Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection can persist in the cervical epithelium without provoking a strong host immune response, leading to the development of cervical cancer. Cytokines, which mediate innate and adaptive immune activities, are secreted in the cervical mucus; however, there is currently no appropriate method for assessing cytokine levels in mucus specimens. Here, we employed multiplexed bead-based immunoassays to examine cytokine levels in cervical mucus using both weighted-volume and total protein concentration methods to adjust for different specimen volumes in individual patients. Out of 18 cytokines initially examined in the primary cohort patient group (n = 28), 14 were detected in more than 10% of the samples. Of these 14 cytokines, expression levels of interferon (IFN)-γ, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), RANTES, and eotaxin were significantly increased with the disease severity in the secondary cohort patient group (n = 235). We also examined associations between cytokine levels and clinical parameters, such as cytology and HPV genotype. Of the 14 cytokines, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) was downregulated in HPV-positive sp...
Source: Cytokine - Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Tags: Cytokine Source Type: research