Lymphocyte Subsets in Cervicovaginal Lavage Specimens of HIV-Infected Women: A Surrogate Risk Marker of HPV-Associated Cervical Lesions.

Introduction: To better understand the role of mucosa immunity in the development of cervical carcinoma in HIV infection, cervical lymphocyte subsets were characterized in HIV+ and HIV- women, as well as their relation to HPV-associated cervical lesions.

Methods: Eighty-three (52 HIV+, 31 HIV-) cell suspensions of cervicovaginal lavage (CVL) and 52 HIV+ peripheral blood (PB) samples were assessed by flow cytometry to evaluate lymphoid populations. High-risk (HR) HPV was assessed in liquid-based cytology and HIV mRNA in PB in the same patients.

Detection of HIV mRNA in routine liquid-based cytology specimens of HIV-infected women.

Objective: Human immunodeficiency virus-infected women have a high incidence of HPV infection, and HIV and HPV coinfection is associated with high incidence of cervical intraepithelial lesions and cervical cancer. This study investigated the ability to detect HIV mRNA in routine screening cervical liquid-based cytology (LBC) samples and its correlation with HPV coinfection and cervical intraepithelial lesions.

Methods: Liquid-based cytology samples from 80 HIV-infected women under combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) were studied for detection of HIV and HPV mRNA using Aptima tests and for cytology diagnosis according to the 2014 Bethesda System for Reporting Cervical Cytology.