EVALUATION OF TH1, TH2 AND TH17 CITOKYNES PROFILE IN PATIENTS WITH AND WITHOUT HIGH-GRADE INTRAEPITHELIAL LESIONS AND WITH CERVICAL CANCER
Cervical Cancer, Cytokines, Immunology
The imbalance of cellular expression mediators of the immune response resulting from HPV infections in high-grade lesions and cervical carcinoma, such as the Th1, Th2, and Th17 cell profiles from peripheral blood, has been extensively studied in recent research. This has highlighted the need for a better understanding of the immune response through cytokine profiling in situ of HPV-mediated lesions. We aimed to quantify cytokines of the Th1, Th2, and Th17 profiles in cervical-vaginal scraping (CVS) samples using flow cytometry, correlating these with clinical and immunological findings. Through a cross-sectional study, CVS samples were collected from the lower genital tract pathology (PTGI) clinic in patients with High-Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion (HSIL) and Cervical Cancer (CC), with patients who tested negative for intraepithelial lesions included as a control group. We assessed the levels of Th1, Th2, and Th17 cytokines in the CVS and compared these levels between the study groups and the control group. Our findings suggest that there is a significant difference in cytokine levels between the HSIL and CC groups when compared to the control group. The persistence of lesions and the development of CC can lead to an immunological dissonance as the disease progresses.