The Presence of Methylation of the p16INK4A Gene and Human Papillomavirus in High-grade Cervical Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions

Methylation is a chemical modification in which a methyl group (CH3) is added to the cytosine in the promoter region of the gene. It involves a very frequent epigenetic event that is found in many human cancers. Currently, there is no consensus on whether methylation of the p16 gene could be used as a biomarker in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. The authors studied the presence of methylation of the p16 gene and human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA, and a possible relationship between them in high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions of the cervix. This case-control study analyzed 27 high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion samples and 20 normal cytology samples. To detect p16 methylation, methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction was used, and for HPV DNA detection the polymerase chain reaction was performed by using MY09/MY11 and GP5+/GP6+ consensus primers. The presence of methylation of the promoter region of the p16INK4a gene was detected in 55.6% of the samples from the case group, whereas it was detected only in 20% of the samples from the control group (P=0.005). HPV DNA was found in 66.7% of the samples from the case group, whereas only 15% from the control group (P=0.0001). The relationship between the presence of methylation of the p16 gene and HPV DNA did not prove statistically significant in the case group (P=0.67) or the control group (P=0.51). In conclusion, the presence of methylation of the p16 gene constituted an occurrence that was early but independent of the presence of HPV DNA.