Regression of canine oral papillomas is associated with infiltration of CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes

Canine oral papillomavirus (COPV) infection is used in vaccine development against mucosal papillomaviruses. The predictable, spontaneous regression of the papillomas makes this an attractive system for analysis of cellular immunity. Immunohistochemical analysis of the timing and phenotype of immune cell infiltration revealed a marked influx of leukocytes during wart regression, including abundant CD4+ and CD8+ cells, with CD4+ cells being most numerous. Comparison of these findings, and those of immunohistochemistry using TCRalphabeta-, TCRgammadelta-, CD1a-, CD1c-, CD11a-, CD11b-, CD11c-, CD18-, CD21-, and CD49d-specific monoclonal antibodies, with previously published work in the human, ox, and rabbit models revealed important differences between these systems. Unlike bovine papillomavirus lesions, those of COPV do not have a significant gamma/delta T-cell infiltrate. Furthermore, COPV lesions had numerous CD4+ cells, unlike cottontail rabbit papillomavirus lesions. The lymphocyte infiltrate in the dog resembled that in human papillomavirus lesions, indicating that COPV is an appropriate model for human papillomavirus immunity.