title: A sero-epidemiological study of the relationship between sexually transmitted agents and cervical cancer in Honduras.
abstract: To investigate a possible cause-and-effect relationship between sexually transmitted diseases and cervical cancer, we performed a sero-epidemiological study on the presence of antibodies against a number of sexually transmitted agents (STAs) in patients with cervical cancer and their matched controls. In this study, we used serological techniques to investigate the presence of antibodies to cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus type 2, human immunodeficiency virus, Chlamydia trachomatis, Treponema pallidum and human papillomavirus (HPV) early protein E7 in sera from patients with cervical cancer, cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia and individually matched, healthy controls. The presence of antibodies to infectious agents other than HPV appeared not to be associated with risk of cervical neoplasia in either univariate or multivariate analysis. After adjustment for cytology, schooling and presence of HPV DNA in cervical scrapes, there was a significantly higher prevalence of antibodies to HPV-16 E7 protein in sera from patients with cervical cancer (OR = 3.6, 95% CI 1.0-12.9) than in healthy controls. The highest antibody prevalence was found among HPV-16 DNA-positive cervical cancer patients (33%). Our results indicate that in these study groups past infections with the STA considered seems to be of no apparent relevance for cervical carcinogenesis and that the HPV-16 anti-E7 response appears to be associated with cervical cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras, Tegucigalpa. anabelle@gbm.hn
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferrera
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Baay
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Herbrink
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Figueroa
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Velema
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Melchers
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000276:immunology; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006678:HIV / Q000276:immunology; D006564:Herpesviridae / Q000276:immunology; D006721:Honduras / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000276:immunology; D050725:Papillomavirus E7 Proteins; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D015231:Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Bacterial / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D015229:Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D014210:Treponema pallidum / Q000276:immunology; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral; D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral; D050725:Papillomavirus E7 Proteins; C059731:oncogene protein E7, Human papillomavirus type 16