Adeno-associated virus and development of cervical neoplasia

Evidence from several sources has suggested that adeno-associated virus (AAV) infection might protect against cervical cancer, in part, by interfering with human papillomavirus (HPV)-induced tumorigenesis. Detection of AAV type 2 (AAV-2) DNA in cervical tissues has been reported. However, there have been few in vivo studies of women with cervical HPV infection or neoplasia, and these have reported inconsistent results. Therefore, we used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays targeted to the AAV-2 rep and cap genes to test tissue specimens from women in an epidemiological study of cervical neoplasia in Jamaica. We tested 105 women with low-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN-1), 92 women with CIN-3/carcinoma in situ or invasive cancer (CIN-3/CA), and 94 normal subjects. PCR amplification of human beta-globin DNA was found in almost all cervical specimens, indicating that these materials were adequate for PCR testing. The prevalence of HPV DNA, determined by HPV L1 consensus primer PCR was, as expected, strongly associated with presence and grade of neoplasia. Each of the AAV PCR assays detected as few as 10 copies of the virus genome. However, none of the 291 cervical specimens from Jamaican subjects tested positive for AAV DNA. Negative AAV PCR results were also obtained in tests of cervical samples from 79 university students in the United States. Exposure to AAV was assessed further by serology. Using a whole virus AAV-2 sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, we found no relationship between AAV antibodies and presence or grade of neoplasia in either the Jamaican study subjects or women enrolled in a U.S. cervical cancer case (n = 74) - control (n = 77) study. Overall, the data provide no evidence that AAV infection plays a role in cervical tumorigenesis or that AAV commonly infects cervical epithelial cells.(Au)

Human papilloma virus infections and other risk factors as determinants of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in Trinidad and Tobago - abstract

Human Papilloma Viruses (HPV) are considered to play a key role in the induction of malignant neoplasms of the cervix uteri but there have been no published reports on the prevalence of genital HPV infections among women in this region where the incidence of cervical cancer is high. The objectives of this study were to assess the overall and type-specific prevalence of HPV infections of the uterine cervix in a sample of urban and rural women with and without cytologically or histologically defined cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in this population of non-hysterectomized, non-pregnant females aged 18 - 60 years. One hundred and sixty-nine urban women, roughly half of whom had abnormal cytological diagnoses and 159 rural women were examined colposcopically and directed cervical biopsies performed. Cases and controls were identified on the basis of results of examinations of these specimens. Z-tests, kappa statistic, chi-square, odds ratio and confidence limits and multivariate logistic techniques were used where appropriate. Overall prevalence of HPV infection was 6.7 per cent, HPV DNA was detected in 5.6 per cent of controls and only 6.3 per cent of cases. HPV type 16 was the commonest isolate (54.5 per cent). HPV positivity was not an independent predictor of the risk of CIN. Early coital onset, high parity, multiple sexual partners and high gravidity were the most significant, independent predictors of the risk of CIN (AU)