Advances in Etiopathological Role and Control of HPV in Cervical Cancer Oncogenesis.

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is a well-known oncovirus whose causal link in the occurrence and development of several cancers, such as cervical cancer (CC), has been well established. Indeed, numerous researches depicted the etiological role of HPV in CC pathogenesis in such a way as to develop efficient strategies, including early diagnoses and HPV vaccination, to mitigate HPV infection and CC occurrence. Despite the effectiveness of these strategies in preventing HPV infection, its persistence, and the progression to precancerous lesions and cancers, extensive work that could give a better understanding of other unknown factors favoring oncogenesis is much more needed. In this last decade, scarce or few but crucial and strategic studies have been carried out to improve and deepen our understanding of the etiopathological role of HPV in the progression towards the development of CC. In this review, we highlighted the recent findings on the pathological role of HPV in CC occurrence and the advances in novel adopted strategies to reduce HPV infection and prevent CC occurrence more effectively.

Detection of Circulating VZV-Glycoprotein E-Specific Antibodies by Chemiluminescent Immunoassay (CLIA) for Varicella-Zoster Diagnosis.

Varicella and herpes zoster are mild symptoms-associated diseases caused by varicella-zoster virus (VZV). They often cause severe complications (disseminated zoster), leading to death when diagnoses and treatment are delayed. However, most commercial VZV diagnostic tests have low sensitivity, and the most sensitive tests are unevenly available worldwide. Here, we developed and validated a highly sensitive VZV diagnostic kit based on the chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA) approach. VZV-glycoprotein E (gE) was used to develop a CLIA diagnostic approach for detecting VZV-specific IgA, IgG, and IgM. The kit was tested with 62 blood samples from 29 VZV-patients classified by standard ELISA into true-positive and equivocal groups and 453 blood samples from VZV-negative individuals. The diagnostic accuracy of the CLIA kit was evaluated by receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The relationships of immunoglobulin-isotype levels between the two groups and with patient age ranges were analyzed. Overall, the developed CLIA-based diagnostic kit demonstrated the detection of VZV-specific immunoglobulin titers depending on sample dilution. From the ELISA-based true-positive patient samples, the diagnostic approach showed sensitivities of 95.2%, 95.2%, and 97.6% and specificities of 98.0%, 100%, and 98.9% for the detection of VZV-gE-specific IgA, IgG, and IgM, respectively. Combining IgM to IgG and IgA detection improved diagnostic accuracy. Comparative analyses on diagnosing patients with equivocal results displaying very low immunoglobulin titers revealed that the CLIA-based diagnostic approach is overall more sensitive than ELISA. In the presence of typical VZV symptoms, CLIA-based detection of high titer of IgM and low titer of IgA/IgG suggested the equivocal patients experienced primary VZV infection. Furthermore, while no difference in IgA/IgG level was found regarding patient age, IgM level was significantly higher in young adults. The CLIA approach-based detection kit for diagnosing VZV-gE-specific IgA, IgG, and IgM is simple, suitable for high-throughput routine analysis situations, and provides enhanced specificity compared to ELISA.

Effect of aqueous extracts of Ficus vogeliana Miq and Tieghemella africana Pierre in 7,12-Dimethylbenz(a)anthracene -induced skin cancer in rats.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality. Tieghemella africana and Ficus vogeliana are used in traditional medicine to treat cancers. AIM OF THE STUDY: Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the antioxidant, antiangiogenic and anti-tumor activities of these plant extracts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To achieve it, phytochemical screening, antioxidant activity and antiangiogenic activity were assessed. Thereafter, the anti-tumor activity was determined using skin tumorigenesis induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene. RESULTS: The phytochemical result analysis showed that both plant extracts were rich in polyphenols, alkaloids and terpene compounds and possessed good antioxidant activity based on DPPH radical scavenging (IC50 = 9.70 µg/mL and 4.60 µg/mL and AAI values of 5.20 and 10.88) and strong total antioxidant capacity (115.44 VtCE (mg)/g of dry plant extract and 87.37 VtCE (mg)/g of dry plant extract, respectively). Additionally, both plant extracts possessed antiangiogenic activities (IC50 = 53.43 µg/mL and 92.68 µg/mL, respectively), which correlated with significant antitumor activities when using 35 mg/kg (65.02% and 77.54%) and 70 mg/kg of extracts (81.07% and 88.18%). CONCLUSIONS: In summary, this study illustrates the promising usage of Tieghemella africana and Ficus vogeliana plant extracts in treating skin cancer. However, further characterization of the extracts must be performed to isolate the most active anticancer compound.