Abstract
Persistent infection with the human papillomavirus 16 (HPV 16) is the cause of half of all cervical carcinomas (CC) cases. Moreover, mutations in the oncoproteins E6 and E7 are associated with CC development. In this study, E6/E7 variants circulating in southern Mexico and their association with CC and its precursor lesions were evaluated. In total, 190 DNA samples were obtained from scrapes and cervical biopsies of women with HPV 16 out of which 61 are from patients with CC, 6 from patients with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL), 68 from patients with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL), and 55 from patients without intraepithelial lesions. For all E7 variants found, the E7-C732/C789/G795 variant (with three silent mutations) was associated with the highest risk of CC (odd ratio (OR) = 3.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.46-9.85). The analysis of E6/E7 bicistron conferred to AA-a*E7-C732/C789/G795 variants revealed the greatest increased risk of CC (OR = 110, 95% CI = 6.04-2001.3), followed by AA-c*E7-C732/C789/G795 and A176/G350*E7-p. These results highlight the importance of analyzing the combinations of E6/E7 variants in HPV 16 infection and suggest that AA-a*E7-C732/C789/G795, AA-c*E7-C732/C789/G795, and A176/G350*E7-p can be useful markers for predicting CC development.