HPV type 18 in women

The peculiarity of the female reproductive system is that its organs are mostly located inside the body and hidden from the eyes of even the woman herself. If pathological processes begin in the ovaries, vagina, uterus or fallopian tubes, they will not necessarily immediately declare themselves. The penetration of a bacterial or viral infection and inflammatory processes in the internal genital organs can debut with pain and unusual discharge, or they can proceed covertly. But the addition of a papillomavirus infection in most cases complicates the course of the disease no less than the presence of chlamydia, mycoplasma and other pathogens that support the inflammatory process.

It should be said that the probability of infection with the papilloma virus in people of reproductive age of both sexes is the same. But the consequences of such infection in women and men are different. The fact that the female reproductive organs are located inside the body, and their surface is covered with a delicate mucous membrane, the penetration of which is not difficult for virions, leads to the fact that the virus causes more harm to the weaker sex. Plus, hygienic procedures on internal organs are difficult, and natural cleansing of the uterus and vagina is not able to completely remove the virus that penetrates the cells.

In viral pathology in women, bacterial infections often join in, further weakening the body, because for them the warm and moist environment of the vagina is truly an idyll for life and reproduction, if only the immune system allows such a life.

For example, cervical erosion, as one of the most frequently detected pathologies during a gynecological examination, may not give specific symptoms. In 90% of cases, a woman learns about her diagnosis after another gynecological examination on the chair, because this is the only way the doctor can assess the condition of the woman's reproductive system. In some women, with the appearance of an erosive-inflammatory focus, natural physiological discharge increases. But if they do not have an unpleasant odor and a suspicious yellowish-greenish color indicating the presence of pus, the lady may not be particularly worried about them, attributing everything to hypothermia and decreased immunity.

Much less often, discomfort during sexual intercourse, a feeling of heaviness in the lower abdomen, the appearance of bloody streaks in physiological vaginal discharge outside of menstruation may indicate damage to the uterine mucosa at the entrance to the cervical canal. If pain occurs in the lower abdomen, the menstrual cycle is disrupted, and foul-smelling leucorrhoea appears, then we are talking not so much about the erosion itself as about an inflammatory process provoked by the activation of opportunistic microorganisms in the lesion. But it is possible that pathogens (the same chlamydia or viruses) have penetrated into the female womb.

In women with chronic erosion, in most cases, the analysis shows the presence of HPV virions. These do not necessarily have to be highly oncogenic types of the virus. Usually, mixed microflora is detected: opportunistic microorganisms, mycoplasma, ureaplasma, chlamydia, papilloma viruses (usually from one to four varieties), herpes viruses. It is not easy to determine the contribution of each pathogen to the maintenance and development of the inflammatory process in the affected area, but it must be said that their presence always complicates the situation and contributes to an increase in the size of erosion.

A long-term erosive process may at some point change its character and, in addition to inflammation in the affected area, the doctor may notice the growth of mucous tissue (dysplasia of the cervix). It should be said that one of the main factors provoking this process is considered to be the papillomavirus infection. Erosive foci are the most vulnerable places on the mucous membrane of the uterus and vagina, so it is much easier for the virus to penetrate into the tissues of the organs, and then into the cells.

If highly oncogenic types of papillomavirus ( HPV 18 and 16) are detected in smears in addition to dysplastic processes, which represent a benign tumor, one can expect the degeneration of individual tumor cells into malignant ones. After all, the change in the properties of the host cell is embedded in the genome of highly oncogenic virions, and the behavior of such mutated cells is no longer controlled by the immune system.

It is difficult to say whether the papilloma virus itself is capable of causing cervical erosion (if this happens, it will not happen soon). But it is quite capable of provoking dysplastic processes even in the absence of an erosive process, penetrating into microdamages on the mucous membrane of the uterus and vagina, which can occur after abortions, active sexual intercourse, and be the result of frequent and promiscuous sexual contacts. In this case, dysplasia will proceed without any symptoms for a very long time. Symptoms will only be caused by concomitant diseases (erosive-inflammatory processes, which often develop against the background of papillomavirus infection).

If the cause of dysplasia is viruses of types 16 and 18, then in half of the cases after 10 or more years the disease develops into cervical cancer. Doctors anticipate such an outcome in advance, so they always prescribe a special analysis that allows identifying the virus in a smear (regular smear cytology is uninformative in this regard) and determining its type. Foci of erosion and dysplasia must be removed regardless of whether a highly oncogenic type of papilloma virus is detected in them. But if it is detected, not only a surgical operation to excise pathological tissues is mandatory, but also regular subsequent monitoring of the condition of the uterine mucosa.

Another pathology, the development of which is associated with the papillomatous virus, is an ovarian cyst. A cyst is considered a benign neoplasm. In appearance, it resembles a sac of fluid, which can even exceed the size of the organ itself, squeezing it and preventing the release of the egg.

Doctors associate the formation of cysts with surgical operations on the genitals, erosive and inflammatory diseases of the uterus, hormonal disorders (half of cases), early menstruation, cycle disorders, etc. Ideally, the neoplasm (luteal cyst formed from the corpus luteum, and follicular cyst formed in the case of failure of the egg to exit) should resolve on its own. Hemorrhagic and endometriotic cysts are amenable to therapeutic treatment.

The greatest danger is posed by a mucinous cyst, which is found in women over 50 and consists of several rapidly growing chambers, and a paraovarian cyst, which is formed not on the ovary, but on the ovaries and is also prone to rapid growth. It is difficult to say whether the papillomavirus has anything to do with the formation of such cysts, but if HPV 16, 18 or virions of another highly oncogenic type are present in the body, there is a high risk of degeneration of a benign neoplasm into a malignant one.

If a woman is diagnosed with cervical erosion, ovarian cysts, dysplastic processes in the uterus and HPV type 16 or 18, doctors start to sound the alarm. It cannot be said that a highly oncogenic virus will necessarily provoke cervical or ovarian cancer, but its presence in the body increases the risk of developing a deadly disease several times.

[ 1 ], [ 2 ], [ 3 ], [ 4 ], [ 5 ], [ 6 ], [ 7 ], [ 8 ], [ 9 ]