Page 258 - EJMO-9-2

Eurasian Journal of Medicine

and Oncology

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Investigating the role of neurotransmitter

system and neurotrophic factor-related genes
in human papillomavirus-associated cervical

lesions

Ângela Inácio 1,2,3 * , Laura Aguiar 1,2,3 , João Caldeira , Margarida Gato ,
1,2
1,2
1,2
Raquel Carrilho 1,2 , Patrícia Pires 1,2 , Joana Ferreira 1,2,3 , Luís Coelho ,
Rui Medeiros 4 , Manuel Bicho 1,2,3 , and Maria Clara Bicho 3,5
1 Bento da Rocha Cabral Scientific Research Institute, Lisbon, Portugal
2 Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
3 Institute of Environmental Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
4 Molecular Oncology and Viral Pathology Group, Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto, Porto,
Portugal
5 Institute of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisbon,
Portugal

Abstract
*Corresponding author:
Ângela Inácio
(minacio@medicina.ulisboa.pt) Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection plays a crucial role in cervical carcinogenesis.
The link between the autonomic nervous system and tumor biology is increasingly
Citation: Inácio Â, Aguiar L,
Caldeira J, et al. Investigating the being recognized. Understanding how neural signaling pathways interact with
role of neurotransmitter system and HPV oncogenesis could open new avenues for therapeutic intervention. We aim
neurotrophic factor-related genes in to study the contribution of the autonomic nervous system-related genes to
human papillomavirus-associated
cervical lesions. Eurasian J Med the HPV-associated cervical lesions. A population of 140 HPV-infected women
Oncol. 2025;9(2):250-260. presenting cervical lesions was compared to a control population. Genes/variants
doi: 10.36922/EJMO025100047 under study were: BDNF/rs6265, NTRK2/rs2289656, NGF/rs6330, SLC6A4/5-HTT
Received: March 7, 2025 variable number tandem repeats intron 2, HTR2A/rs6313, ADRBR2/rs1042713, and
Revised: April 16, 2025 CHRNA5/rs16969968. Samples were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction
(PCR), PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism, and endpoint genotyping.
Accepted: April 23, 2025
Statistical analysis revealed a genetic contribution for SCL6A4, ADRB2, and CHRNA5.
Published online: May 9, 2025 SCL6A4 showed statistically significant association in the codominant (p=0.003) and
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s). dominant models (p=0.024, odds ratio [OR] = 2.301). ADRB2 showed statistically
This is an Open-Access article significant association in the codominant (p<0.001), dominant (p=0.024, OR = 4.728),
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution recessive (p<0.001, OR = 4.856), and allelic models (p<0.001, OR = 4.091), while
License, permitting distribution, CHRNA5 showed statistically significant association in the dominant model (p=0.030,
and reproduction in any medium, OR = 0.529). We conclude that there is a genetic contribution of the adrenergic
provided the original work is
properly cited. (ADRB2), cholinergic (CHRNA5), and serotonergic (SLC6A4) systems to cervical lesions
associated with HPV infections.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Keywords: Human papillomavirus infection; Autonomic nervous system; Genetics
affiliations.

Volume 9 Issue 2 (2025) 250 doi: 10.36922/EJMO025100047