The role of mitochondrial background in the development of cervical cancer precursors in HPV positive women from the Philadelphia area

VOLNEY, F; BADANO, INES; GILI JA; SCHURR, THEODORE G.

Chicago-Virtual

Congreso; 48th Annual Meeting of the Human Biology Association; 2023

Human Biology Association

The role of mitochondrial background in the development of cervical cancer precursors in HPV positive women from the Philadelphia areaVolney Friedrich1, Ines Badano2, Juan Gili3, Theodore Schurr11University of Pennsylvania, United States of America; 2Universidad Nacional de Misiones. CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina.; 3Dirección de Investigación CEMIC-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina.; volney@sas.upenn.eduHuman papillomavirus type 16 and 18 (HPV) are the main causal factor for cervical cancer (CC), however, there are data suggesting that host genetic factors, like mtDNA ancestry could modulate the risk for CC. Research suggests differences in metabolic efficiency between mitochondrial backgrounds affects malignant cell transformation. In women, HPV interacts with the epithelial cells of the cervix, including the cell mitochondria, and can cause CC. To further understand the relationship between mitochondrial background, HPV infection and cervical lesions development, we studied a diverse group of women from the Philadelphia area. Of 204 subjects, 40.1% showed West Eurasian, 7.4% East Eurasian, 3.4% Amerindian, and 49.0% African mitochondrial ancestry. Multivariate ordinal logistic regression between Pap cytology (NILM, LSIL and HSIL/cancer), HPV infection and mtDNA ancestry, adjusted by socio-demographic variables, showed that women with Amerindian ancestry had a greater risk of developing cervical cancer when positive with high-risk type HPV-16 or HPV-16/-18 (OR of 3.18 and 3.3 respectively) although not significant (p>0.05). Interestingly, the Amerindian Haplogroup B2 has been previously reported as a risk factor in Mexican populations, which will deserve further studies. Being a current smoker was associated with increased risk for developing CC in the presence of HPV-16 and HPV-16/HPV-18 (OR = 4.4 and 4.2 respectively and p < 0.05). In conclusion, this study has contributed to our understanding of the genetic and sociocultural risk factors in cervical cancer development in the Pennsylvania area. The potential role of Amerindian mtDNA ancestry will require further confirmation in large-scale studies.