Expression Of Toll-like Receptors In The Lesions Of Condyloma Acuminatum

Condyloma acuminatum (CA) is a kind of sexually transmitted disease infected with human papillomavirus (HPV).Host immune condition has an intimate relationship to this common disease, which may be responsible for the infection of HPV, development and recurrence of CA. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are crucial pattern recognition modecules.They can recognize various pathogen-associated molecular patterns, trigger downstream signaling pathways,subsequently induct the innate and adaptive immune responses.Objective:To investigate the expression of TLRs in condyloma acuminatum lesions and their possible roles in the pathogenesis of CA. Methods:The expressions of TLR1～10 mRNA level in the lesions of CA and in the cervix scrape cells from the patients with HPV negative chronic cervicitis were detected by real-time quantitative fluorescent PCR. HPV typing was detected by HPV GenoArray test kit. Results:Low-risk HPV type 6 and type 11 were the most prevalent types in the forty CA cases with positive rate of 77.5% and 55% respectively.55% CA patients were found infected with more than two types of HPV.35% CA patients were concurrently infected with high-risk HPV. There were strong expressions of TLR3,7,8 mRNA and weak expression of TLR9 mRNA in the lesions of CA. No significant differences of the TLR1～10 mRNA levels were found between HPV6 and HPV11 positive CA lesions, so did it between low-risk and high-risk HPV concurrent infected CA lesions. The expressions of TLR1-3,TLR5-8,TLR10 mRNA, especially TLR2,TLR7 and TLR8,in the lesions of CA were significantly stronger than that in cervix scrape cells of chronic cervicitis.There were no significant differences of TLR4 and TLR9 mRNA levels between the two groups. Conclusions:Some up-regulated TLRs may serve as recognition receptors of HPV and play an important role in the initiation of immune response against HPV. The weak expression of TLR9 in the lesions of CA may be associated with the immune escape mechanism and persistent infection of HPV. The expression profile of TLRs in different type of HPV infected CA lesions might be identical.