Cytologic study of the tissue repair cells of the uterine cervix. With special reference to their origin.

In order to characterize tissue repair cells (TR) of the uterine cervix and clarify their origin, exfoliated cells obtained after laser conization for early cervical lesions were examined. One specimen was first examined by Papanicolaou staining and then examined for epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) and vimentin by immunocytochemical staining, using a restaining method. The other specimen was observed by phosphotungstic acid-hematoxylin (PTAH) staining. Morphologic findings on TR were investigated together with the histologic findings on the wound healing process. TR were classified morphologically into three groups: stromal (STR), epithelial (ETR) and of unknown origin (UTR). Validity of this classification was confirmed by the findings of immunocytochemical staining with EMA and vimentin. These cells appeared one to eight weeks after laser conization. TR with relatively large nuclei, or atypical TR (ATR), appeared when each type of TR was most plentiful, at two to five weeks. Regarding the origins of each TR, cytologic and histologic findings could be considered to offer evidence that ETR originated with hyperplasia of immature cells of the squamous epithelium or reserve cells below the columnar epithelium. The presence of myofibrils in cytoplasm, demonstrated by PTAH staining for STR and some UTR, strongly suggested the possibility that these cells were myofibroblasts in granulation tissue.