Interferon-γ (IFN-γ): A possible prognostic marker for clearance of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV)

Objectives.: The goal of this study was to identify cytokines that may predict high-risk HPV clearance or persistence in untreated patients with mild dysplasia or less of the uterine cervix. Methods.: A prospective analysis was performed on 57 patients who harbored high-risk HPV with histologically verified mild dysplasia or less between May 2005 and March 2006. All patients underwent follow-up evaluation at 12 months. Real-time PCR was used to quantify interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin-10 (IL-10), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) transcripts. Hybrid Capture II testing was used to detect HPV DNA. Results.: Among the 57 patients that were untreated with mild dysplasia, or less, 46 (80.7%) had no detectable HPV after 12 months of follow-up. Univariate analysis showed that a negative HPV test, of untreated mild dysplasia or less, occurred in 93.3% (28/30) of patients who were IFN-γ-positive and in 66.7% (18/27) of patients who were IFN-γ-negative (P = 0.0109). Other factors such as age, lesion grade in the colposcopic biopsy, IL-10, IL-6, TNF-α, day of menstrual cycle, smoking, and use of oral contraceptives were not significantly associated with high-risk HPV negative or positive results after 12-months of follow-up in patients with untreated mild dysplasia or less. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that only IFN-γ-positive results were significantly associated with clearance of high-risk HPV after 12 months of follow-up (OR: 8.26; 95% CI: 1.24-54.94). Conclusions.: These results suggest that intralesional IFN-γ may be a prognostic marker for clearance of high-risk HPV.