Abstract
The DNA methylation levels of host cell genes increase with the severity of the cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grade and are very high in cervical cancer. Our study aims to evaluate FAM19A4 and hsa-miR124-2 methylation in Atypical Squamous cells with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (ASC-H) and in CIN1, defined as low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSILs) by the Bethesda classification, as possible early warning biomarkers for managing women with high-risk HPV infections (hrHPV). FAM19A4 and hsa-miR124-2 methylation tests were conducted on fifty-six cervical screening samples from a subset of women aged 30-64 years old. Specimens were collected into ThinPrep PreservCyt Solution. Their HrHPV genotype and cytology diagnosis were known. A Qiasure (Qiagen) was used for FAM19A4 and hsa-miR124-2 methylation testing on bisulfite-converted DNA, according to the manufacturer's specifications. The reported results were hypermethylation-positive or -negative. We found that FAM194A4 and hsa-miR124-2 methylation was detected in 75% of ASC-H cases with a persistent infection of hrHPV. A total of 60% of CIN1 lesions were found to be positive for methylation, and 83.3% were when the cytology was CIN2/3. In addition, as a novelty of this pilot study, we found that combined FAM19A4 and hsa-miR124-2 methylation positivity rates (both methylated) were associated with the HPV genotypes 16, 18, and 59 and covered 22 and 25% of ASC-H and CIN1 cases, respectively. The methylation of these two genes, in combination with HPV genotyping, can be used as an early warning biomarker in the management and follow-up of women with ASC-H and CIN1 to avoid their progression to cervical cancer.