The human papillomavirus (HPV) the main etiological agent of cervical cancer. The state of the immune system is of great importance during HPV infection.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

To study changes in the cytokine profile in a cellular model of dendritic cells stimulated with HPV type 16 L2 peptide.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

For the determination of cytokines, ELISA kits of Vector-Best JSC (Novosibirsk) were used in the work; dendritic cells obtained from the blood of donors; synthesized fragment of the conserved region of the minor capsid protein L2 of human papillomavirus type 16 (amino acid residue 17—36).

RESULTS

In this work, we studied spontaneous and stimulated by HPV L2 peptide 16 levels of dendritic cell cytokines. Significant changes in the balance of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, which contribute to the escape of HPV from the immune response, were revealed. Variants of cytokine response to different viral load were determined.

CONCLUSIONS

In the supernatants of cell cultures of dendritic cells to the introduction of the synthesized HPV 16 L2 peptide, 3 variants of the cytokine response were found: without changes in cytokine production, with increased and with inhibition of cytokine secretion. The response variant depends on the concentration of the viral L2 peptide. An imbalance between the ratio of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in response to the introduction of the L2 peptide of HPV 16 into DC culture was revealed, which leads to a depression of the inflammatory response, the formation of an immunodeficiency state, and the persistence of the virus.