Abstract: Objective To study the telomerase activity,the keratinocyte apoptosis in condyloma accuminatum(CA)and the correlation between them.Methods CA specimens from 30 patients were studied,and compared with normal tissue and tumor cell lines.Telomerase activity was detected with telomeric repeat amplification polymerase chain reaction(TRAP)-ELISA.Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase(TdT)-mediated biotin dUTP nick end-labeling(TUNEL)was used to evaluate apoptotic cells.Results Increased telomerase activity was detected in 27(90%)patients with CA,with A₄₅₀ ranging between 0.50 and 2.76(mean 1.3022).Apoptotic keratinocytes were found in 24 out of 30 CA cases(80%).A statistically significant inverse correlation was found between telomerase activity and apoptotic index(r=-0.52,P=0.004).Conclusion Keratinocyte telomerase is activated in condyloma acuminata,which is correlated with the downregulation of apoptosis,thus they might be involved in the pathogenesis of CA.

Key words: Condylomata acuminata, Telomerase, Apoptosis