HLA-DRB1*1602 allele is positively associated with HPV cervical infection in Bolivian Andean women

Identification of human leukocyte antigen in precancerous and cancerous cervical lesions from Ecuadorian women

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer in women. Worldwide, it is a public health problem with around 604,127 women diagnosed per year and 341,831 deaths. Cervical cancer and persistent high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection are highly associated. However, other factors are also involved, such as viral load, HPV variants, sexual behavior, and genetic factors. The host immune response against HPV has been widely studied and it has shown associations with development of cervical cancer. The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes are related to the persistence of HPV infection and progression to cervical cancer because of their role in controlling T-cell mediated immune response to clear the infection. In Ecuador, there is scarce information about HLA and HPV infection with high-risk genotypes in the population. This study aimed to identify host-specific HLA alleles in women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) II and III, and cancer infected with HPV-16, 58, and 52. In this study, we included 51 samples previously identified as positive for HPV-16, 58, and 52 from 12 Ecuadorian provinces. As a result, we found that HLA-A*02, HLA-B*35, HLA-C*04, HLA-DRB1*04, and HLA-DQB1*03 alleles were the most frequent, these alleles have been associated with cervical cancer in previous studies; nevertheless, we did not find a statistically significant association between HLA alleles, HPV genotype, and histopathological lesion. This is a baseline study to uncover possible relationships between HLA and HPV to elucidate why this virus can develop a persistent infection in some women leading to the development of cervical cancer.

Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) Class II -DRB1 and -DQB1 Alleles and the Association with Cervical Cancer in HIV/HPV Co-Infected Women in South Africa

Background: A subset of women who are co-infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV) and Human papillomavirus (HPV), progress rapidly to invasive cervical cancer regardless of antiretroviral therapy (ART) or immune status. We posit that HIV/HPV co-infection along with specific host HLA II -DRB1 and -DQB1 alleles play a major role in cervical cancer development.

Methodology: We conducted a hospital-based genetic susceptibility case-control study in Cape Town, South Africa. We recruited 256 women of the same race, from which a total of 624 HLA-DRB1 and -DQB1 class II genotypes were studied. We characterized HLA II candidate genes using PCR based, Luminex intermediate resolution genotyping and confirmed significant associated genotypes at four-digit resolution by high resolution gel typing. We analyzed 160 alleles from cancer, 64 alleles from pre-cancer and 400 alleles from healthy control women. Whole blood was used for HIV antibody test and HLA II typing. Cervical tumor tissue biopsies were used for HPV genotyping. Tests were statistically significant if p<0.05.

Results: Women who were co-infected with HIV/HPV had advanced cervical disease compared to women who were HIV negative. HLA class II -DQB1*03:01 and -DQB1*06:02 alleles were associated with cervical cancer in HIV/HPV co-infected women (p=0.001 and p<0.0001, respectively) while HLA class II -DRB1*13:01 and -DQB1*03:19 were rare or absent in women with cervical disease when compared to the control population (p=0.012 and 0.011, respectively).

Conclusion: We describe associations between HLA class II genotypes with cervical cancer, or likely protection from cervical cancer disease in HIV/HPV co-infected South African women. Identifying mechanisms that give rise to this likely protective HLA association will provide insight into development of immune-based prevention measures.

The association of the immune response genes to human papillomavirus-related cervical disease in a Brazilian population

The genetic variability of the host contributes to the risk of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cervical disease. Immune response genes to HPV must be investigated to define patients with the highest risk of developing malignant disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of polymorphic immune response genes, namely KIR, HLA class I and II, and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of cytokines with HPV-related cervical disease. We selected 79 non-related, admixed Brazilian women from the state of Paraná, southern region of Brazil, who were infected with high carcinogenic risk HPV and present cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 (CIN3), and 150 HPV-negative women from the same region matched for ethnicity. KIR genes were genotyped using an in-house PCR-SSP. HLA alleles were typed using a reverse sequence-specific oligonucleotide technique. SNPs of TNF −308G>A, IL6 −174G>C, IFNG +874T>A, TGFB1 +869T>C +915G>C, and IL10 −592C>A −819C>T −1082G>A were evaluated using PCR-SSP. The KIR genes were not associated with HPV, although some pairs of i(inhibitory)KIR-ligands occurred more frequently in patients, supporting a role for NK in detrimental chronic inflammatory and carcinogenesis. Some HLA haplotypes were associated with HPV. The associations of INFG and IL10 SNPs potentially reflect impaired or invalid responses in advanced lesions.

Translational potential into health care of basic genomic and genetic findings for human immunodeficiency virus, Chlamydia trachomatis, and human papilloma virus

Individual variations in susceptibility to an infection as well as in the clinical course of the infection can be explained by pathogen related factors, environmental factors, and host genetic differences. In this paper we review the state-of-the-art basic host genomic and genetic findings' translational potential of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) into applications in public health, especially in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of complications of these infectious diseases. There is a significant amount of knowledge about genetic variants having a positive or negative influence on the course and outcome of HIV infection. In the field of Chlamydia trachomatis, genomic advances hold the promise of a more accurate subfertility prediction test based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). In HPV research, recent developments in early diagnosis of infection-induced cervical cancer are based on methylation tests. Indeed, triage based on methylation markers might be a step forward in a more effective stratification of women at risk for cervical cancer. Our review found an imbalance between the number of host genetic variants with a role in modulating the immune response and the number of practical genomic applications developed thanks to this knowledge.

A comprehensive review on host genetic susceptibility to human papillomavirus infection and progression to cervical cancer

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide. This is caused by oncogenic types of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Although large numbers of young sexually active women get HPV-infected, only a small fraction develop cervical cancer. This points to different co-factors for regression of HPV infection or progression to cervical cancer. Host genetic factors play an important role in the outcome of such complex or multifactor diseases such as cervical cancer and are also known to regulate the rate of disease progression. The aim of this review is to compile the advances in the field of host genetics of cervical cancer. MEDLINE database was searched using the terms, ‘HPV’, ‘cervical’, ‘CIN’, ‘polymorphism(s)’, ‘cervical’+ *the name of the gene* and ‘HPV’+ *the name of the gene*. This review focuses on the major host genes reported to affect the progression to cervical cancer in HPV infected individuals.

The nonsynonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms in codon 31 of p21 gene and the susceptibility to cervical cancer in Chinese women

BACKGROUND

It was suggested that single-nucleotide polymorphisms in p21 codon 31 seem to be associated with a variety of human malignancies; very few studies have focused on the association between p21 codon 31 polymorphisms and cervical cancer. This study explored whether p21 codon 31 nonsynonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms might be associated with an increased risk of cervical cancer development among Chinese women.

METHODS

Peripheral blood samples were obtained from patients with cervical cancer (n = 317) and healthy controls (n = 353) for detecting the biallelic polymorphisms at codon 31 of p21 gene by the mismatch amplification mutation assay-polymerase chain reaction. Cervix brush-off samples were obtained from patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and controls for detection of high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV).

RESULTS

The AGA (Arg) allele frequency in patients with cervical SCCs was significantly higher than that in controls. AGA/AGA and AGA/AGC genotypes were more frequently found in cervical SCCs than in controls. There was no significant difference of allele frequency or genotype distribution between cervical adenocarcinomas and controls, or between HR-HPV-positive and HR-HPV-negative groups.

CONCLUSIONS

p21 Codon 31 with AGA (Arg) allele is a genetic risk factor of cervical SCC, and the increased risk is probably not caused by increasing host susceptibility to HR-HPV infection.

The nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms of DNA repair geneXRCC1and susceptibility to the development of cervical carcinoma and high-risk human papillomavirus infection

To evaluate contribution of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 (XRCC1) gene to the risk of cervical carcinoma, we conducted a case-control study of 1012 patients including 539 carcinoma and 473 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and 800 normal women controls and genotyped three XRCC1 SNPs (Arg194Trp, Arg280His, and Arg399Gln). We found that compared with the Arg399Gln (GG), subjects carrying the homozygous Gln399Gln (AA) genotype had a significantly 2.32-fold increased risk of cervical carcinoma (95% CI 1.47-3.65), heterozygous Arg399Gln (GA) genotype were also associated with a significantly increased risk of cervical carcinoma, with the adjusted odds ratio (OR) being 1.58 (95% CI 1.24-2.00). Similarly, compared with Arg194Arg (CC) wild-type genotype, elevated risks were associated with the Trp194Trp (TT) for carcinoma (ORs and 95% CIs being 2.09 [1.45-3.02]) but not for heterozygote Arg194Trp (CT). In addition, three common haplotypes were found to be associated with an increased risk of cervical carcinoma. Using 194Arg-280Arg-399Arg as the reference, the OR and 95% confidence interval for 194Arg-280Arg-399Gln, 194Arg-280His-399Arg, 194Trp-280Arg-399Arg were 2.30 (1.86-2.85), 1.85 (1.41-2.41), 1.98 (1.62-2.40), respectively. The significantly increased risk associated with the haplotypes was also observed in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) for all three common haplotypes using 194Arg-280Arg-399Arg as the reference. Neither difference was found for adenocarcinoma and CIN. All three SNPs and haplotypes did not confer more risk of high-risk human papillomavirus infection in carcinoma, CIN, and normal subgroup. Our findings suggest that XRCC1 polymorphisms including genotypes and haplotypes contribute to susceptibility to the development of cervical SCC, and the increased susceptibility is probably not through increasing susceptibility to human papillomavirus infection.

HLA Alleles and Risk of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia Among Southwestern American Indian Women

An increase in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) has been described in American Indian women in New Mexico. Differences in human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles have been reported in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) compared with controls in other populations. We investigated HLA alleles and CIN in Southwest American Indian women. The case control study included 89 women with biopsy-proven CIN II/III (diagnosed November 1994 through October 1997) and 271 similar women with normal cervical epithelium from the same clinics. DRB1, DQB1, and DPB1 alleles were determined using DNA typing techniques. DQA1 and HLA-A allele typing was included for some subjects (randomly chosen n = 37 and n = 163 cases and controls, respectively). We found a decreased risk of CIN with DRB1*1402 (OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.3-0.9) and an increased risk with DRB1*1501 (OR 2.7, 95% CI 0.9-7.3). Additionally, DQA1*0102 was associated with increased risk (OR 4.5, 95% CI 1.3-5.3) and HLA-A*02 with decreased risk (OR 0.4, CI 0.2-0.9). Our findings are discussed along with studies in other populations.

HLA-DQB1 and cervical cancer in Venezuelan women

BACKGROUND

Cervical cancer represents a major health problem in Venezuela as well as in other Latin American countries. High-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection is known as the major risk factor of cervical cancer. However, whether or not a HR-HPV-infected woman progresses to cervical cancer may depend on the immune system effectors induced by viral antigens presented by her specific human leukocyte antigens (HLA) alleles. The role of the HLA system in presenting peptides to antigen-specific T-cells may be critical for genetic susceptibility and genetic resistance to cervical carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to investigate the relationship between HLA-DQB1, HPV infection, and cervical cancer in Venezuelan women.

METHODS

Blood samples and cervical swabs were obtained from 36 patients and 79 healthy controls; additional cervical biopsies were obtained from all the patients. HPV DNA was detected by PCR and HLA-DQB1 genotyping was performed using a PCR-SSP protocol. RESULTS.: A positive association with cervical cancer was observed for HLA-DQB1*0201-0202 and *0402 alleles, however after Bonferroni correction only HLA-DQB1*0402 remained statistically significant (P value = 0.004, RR = 5.067).

CONCLUSION

This is the first report of HLA-DQB1 alleles associated with cervical carcinoma in Venezuelan women. Larger studies are needed to assess whether these HLA-DQB1*0201-0202 and *0402 alleles have a direct effect on disease susceptibility.