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Normal Uterine Cervix: Characterization of Isolated Lymphocyte Phenotypes and Immunoglobulin Secretion
Author(s) -
CROWLEYNOWICK PEGGY A.,
BELL MARIA,
EDWARDS ROBERT P.,
MCCALLISTER DANIEL,
GORE HAZEL,
KANBOURSHAKIR AMAL,
MESTECKY JIRI,
PARTRIDGE EDWARD E.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
american journal of reproductive immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.071
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1600-0897
pISSN - 1046-7408
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0897.1995.tb00948.x
Subject(s) - elispot , antibody , lymphocyte , cervix , biology , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , immunology , immune system , immunoglobulin a , immunoglobulin g , andrology , medicine , t cell , in vitro , biochemistry , genetics , cancer
PROBLEM : Isolation of viable cervical lymphocyte populations and characterization of their function in healthy tissue is necessary to understand immunity in the genital tract. METHODS : Normal, cervical tissue was digested using a multi‐enzymatic digestion procedure. Lymphocytes were characterized using FACS analysis and ELISPOT analysis for immunoglobulin secreting cells. RESULTS : Following the digestion procedure, 0.16 × 10 6 ± 0.8 cells/g of tissue with a viability of 90–98% were isolated from normal cervical tissue. FACS analysis determined that B lymphocytes were the predominant cell type in normal cervical tissue representing a significantly higher percentage than that found in peripheral blood ( P =0.015). T lymphocytes and NK cells represented a significantly lower percentage than that found in peripheral blood ( P =0.0001 and 0.026, respectively). The largest percentage of immunoglobulin secreting cells isolated were secreting IgG followed by IgA. A limited number of IgM secreting cells were detected. IgA2 secreting cells represented 34.46 ± 4.6% of the total number of IgA plasma cells. CONCLUSION : These studies represent the first analysis of viable mononuclear cells isolated from normal cervical tissue. The results form a baseline from which it will now be possible to compare changes that occur at the cervical squamocolumnar junction in response to infection or neoplasia.