SPECIFIC NON-IMMUNOGLOBULIN G-ANTIBODIES AND CELL-MEDIATED RESPONSE TO HERPES-SIMPLEX VIRUS-ANTIGENS IN WOMEN WITH CERVICAL CARCINOMA

  • 1 January 1977
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 37  (5) , 1301-1306
Abstract
Non-immunoglobulin [Ig] G-neutralizing antibodies to herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2 were assayed in sera adsorbed with Staphylococcus aureus Cowan l. They were present in 8% of women with normal cervical smear and in 20, 41 and 74% of women with atypia, dysplasia and cervical carcinoma, respectively. Lymphocytes of the patients were tested for in vitro transformation by killed HSV type 1 and HSV type 2 (HSV-2) and by mitomycin C-treated hamster cells transformed by HSV or other viruses or not transformed. Specific stimulation by the HSV-transformed cells occurred in 2, 22 and 40% of women with normal cervical smear, dysplasia and carcinoma of the cervix, respectively. This frequency rose to 82% during treatment with irradiation and decreased to 0% after surgery. When HSV-2 virions were used as antigens to stimulate the lymphocytes, similar differences were found between the various groups, but they were less clear-cut, since 16% of the control women had lymphocytes responding to HSV. Non-IgG antibodies to HSV-2 were not present in blood at the same time as cell response to HSV-2-transformed cells. There was also a negative correlation between neutralizing activities of the sera and the indices of lymphocyte stimulation, indicating a regulation between humoral and cell-mediated responses.