Expression Levels of Antimicrobial Peptides in Patients with Condyloma Acuminata

Genital infections caused by human Papillomavirus (HPV) are the most frequent sexually transmitted diseases. An infection with high risk types can lead to the development of cervical cancer, whereas in case of infections with low risk types it can cause condyloma acuminata.

Although the nature of an effective immune response against HPV infections still remains uncertain, some cell mediated as well as humoral defence mechanisms are known.

An important local defence mechanism is the secretion of antimicrobial peptides, such as human defensins, Psoriasin and RNase 7, produced by vaginal epithelial cells.

To examine the expression levels of these peptides in condyloma acuminata, tissue samples from healthy and infected women were analysed by quantitative RT-PCR and immunhistochemical assays.

The analysed peptides were differentially expressed, when comparing condyloma acuminata to healthy control tissues. In case of human β-defensin (hBD) –1 there were no significant differences between infected and non-infected tissues.

In contrast, the hBD–2, hBD–3, Psoriasin and RNase 7 were significantly overexpressed in HPV-infected tissues compared to healthy controls.

Our data emphasize the importance of antimicrobial peptides in the immune response to genital HPV infection.