Apoptosis in woman uterine cervix in pathologies associated with human papillomavirus

The level of apoptosis in uterine cervical tissue was evaluated in healthy women and in patients with various pathologies. No signs of apoptosis were found in unchanged stratified epithelium, condyloma latum, and condyloma acuminatum. The level of apoptosis decreased with progression of neoplastic epithelial transformations, usually no apoptosis was observed in samples of stage III cervical intraepithelial neoplasms. The development of preinvasive carcinoma was accompanied by activation of apoptotic processes most pronounced in the upper third of the epithelium. In some stage I and stage I-II cervical intraepithelial neoplasms, apoptosis and elimination of the basal layer cells caused rejection of the epithelium which can explain regression of this pathology at the initial stages. The prevalence of human papillomavirus infection directly correlated with neoplastic changes in the cervical epithelium.