T helper cell and regulatory T-cell related cytokines changes in vaginal lavage fluid of patients with high risk-human papilloma virus 16 positive and the predictive effect on the development of cervical neoplasms / 肿瘤研究与临床

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the changes of T helper cell (Th), regulatory T-cell (Treg cell) related cytokines in vaginal lavage fluid of patients with high risk-human papilloma virus 16 (HR-HPV16) positive and its predictive effect on the development of cervical neoplasms.Methods:A total of 200 cases of HR-HPV16 positive patients who admitted to Xingtai People's Hospital from January 2022 to December 2022 were selected as the experimental group. According to the results of pathological examination, all patients in the experimental group were divided into non pathological group (78 cases), low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) group (49 cases), high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) group (39 cases) and cervical cancer group (34 cases); and 100 healthy people undergoing the physical examination in the same period were taken as the healthy control group. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) double-antibody sandwich method was used to detect the levels of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, IL-17, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interferon γ (IFN-γ) and transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) in vaginal lavage fluid of patients in different groups. Multivariate logistics regression was used to analyze the risk factors of cervical cancer, and a nomogram model was established. The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve was drawn with pathological results as the gold standard, and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated to evaluate the predictive ability of the nomogram model.Results:The levels of IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, TNF-α, TGF-β in vaginal lavage fluid of patients in the experimental group were higher than those in the healthy control group, while the levels of IL-2, IL-12 and IFN-γ in the experimental group were lower than those in the healthy control group, and the differences were statistically significant (all P < 0.05); the difference in IL-4 level of both groups was not statistically significant ( P > 0.05). There were statistically significant differences in IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, TNF-α, TGF-β, IL-2, IL-12 and IFN-γ among non pathological group, LSIL group, HSIL group and cervical cancer group (all P < 0.05); the levels of IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, TNF-α, TGF-β in cervical cancer group were the highest, the levels of IL-2, IL-12 and IFN-γ were the lowest; the level of IL-4 in non pathological group, LSIL group, HSIL group and cervical cancer group had no statistically significant difference ( P > 0.05). Logistics regression analysis showed that low IL-2, high IL-4, high IL-6, high IL-10, low IL-12, high IL-17, high TNF-α, low IFN- γ and low TGF-β expressions in vaginal lavage fluid of patients with HR-HPV16 positive were independent risk factors for the development of cervical cancer (all P < 0.05). The results of nomogram analysis showed that IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, TNF-α, TGF-β in vaginal lavage fluid were the factors predicting the development of cervical cancer in HR-HPV16 positive patients. The ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC of nomogram model in predicting the development of cervical cancer in HR-HPV16 positive patients was 0.945 (95% CI 0.901-0.988), and the predictive efficacy was good. Conclusions:Th and Treg cell related cytokines levels in vaginal lavage fluid of patients with HR-HPV16 positive show pathological changes in cervical cancer patients and the above indicators have a high value in predicting the development of cervical cancer.