Abstract:
OBJECTIVE To explore the relationship between aquaporin(AQP), microvessel density(MVD) and human papillomavirus(HPV) infection in cervical cancer patients.
METHODS Totally 224 patients with cervical lesions who were treated in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Ethnic Hospital from Apr 2017 to Jun 2020 were enrolled in the study and divided into the cervical precancerous lesion group with 174 cases and the cervical cancer group with 50 cases according to the result of pathological examination and related criteria, the baseline data of the patients were retrospectively analyzed, meanwhile, 84 healthy people who received physical examination were chosen as the control group. The expressions of AQP1, AQP2 and MVD in cervical precancerous lesions and cervical cancer were analyzed, and the association with high-risk HPV infection was observed.
RESULTS The positive rate of high-risk HPV infection of the cervical cancer group was higher than that of the cervical precancerous lesion group(
P<0.05). The number of AQP1-positive cases and MVD level of the patients with high-risk HPV infection were higher than those of the patients with low-risk HPV infection(
P<0.05). Among the subtypes of high-risk HPV, the proportions of HPV18 and HPV18 were higher than those of other subtypes; there were no significant differences in the number of AQP1-, AQP2-posiitve cases and MVD level among the patients with high-risk HPV infection of different subtypes. The number of AQP1-positive cases and MVD level of the cervical precancerous lesion group and the cervical cancer group were higher than those of the control group(
P<0.05). In the cervical precancerous lesion group, the number of AQP1-positive cases and MVD level of the patients with CINⅢ and CINⅡ were higher than those of the patients with CINⅠ(
P<0.05); the number of AQP1-positive cases and MVD level of the patients with CINⅢ were higher than those of the patients with CINⅡ(
P<0.05).
CONCLUSION The expression of AQP1 may promote the migration of endothelial cells, angiogenesis, infiltration and metastasis of tumor cells. MVD is the basis for endothelial angiogenesis. AQP1 and MVD may play an important role in the occurrence and development of cervical cancer and are associated with the high-risk HPV infection to some extent. AQP2 does not show independent inhibiting or promoting effect on progression of cervical cancer.