Lymphocyte subset in HPV infection

The outcome of HPV infection and its progression to neoplastic disease may be conditioned by the immune status of patients. In the present study we observed the systemic lymphocyte subset, with particular regard to NK cells and NK activity in 7 patients with HPV infection. The lymphocyte phenotypes in peripheral blood were studied using a panel of monoclonal antibodies, while NK activity was evaluated as percentage of lysis of K 562 target cells. We noticed a significant decrease of basal NK activity especially in patients with HPV 16-18 infection (p less than 0.001), without any difference in the absolute number of these cells.