Normal uterine cervix: characterization of isolated lymphocyte phenotypes and immunoglobulin secretion

• Published in: American journal of reproductive immunology (1989) Vol. 34; no. 4; p. 241
• Main Authors: Crowley-Nowick, P A, Bell, M, Edwards, R P, McCallister, D, Gore, H, Kanbour-Shakir, A, Mestecky, J, Partridge, E E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Denmark 01.10.1995
• Subjects: Adult; Antibody-Producing Cells - classification; Cell Separation; Cervix Uteri - immunology; Cervix Uteri - metabolism; Female; Humans; Immunoglobulins - biosynthesis; Immunophenotyping; Leukocytes, Mononuclear - classification; Leukocytes, Mononuclear - immunology; Leukocytes, Mononuclear - secretion; Lymphocyte Count; Lymphocyte Subsets - classification; Lymphocyte Subsets - immunology; Lymphocyte Subsets - secretion; Middle Aged
• ISSN: 1046-7408
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0897.1995.tb00948.x

Isolation of viable cervical lymphocyte populations and characterization of their function in healthy tissue is necessary to understand immunity in the genital tract. Normal, cervical tissue was digested using a multi-enzymatic digestion procedure. Lymphocytes were characterized using FACS analysis and ELISPOT analysis for immunoglobulin secreting cells. Following the digestion procedure, 0.16 x 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. 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.