MicroRNA-551b expression profile in low and high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

A. Lukic, M. Di Properzio, E. Carico, C. De Vitis, S. Giglio, G. Bordi, D. Caserta, R. Mancini

Department of Surgical and Medical Sciences and Translational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Sant’Andrea Hospital, Rome, Italy. matilde.diproperzio@gmail.com

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• Oncology

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the expression of microRNA (miR)-551b in patients with low and high grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and to find an association with high-risk Human Papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection-related prognostic biomarkers.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: The expression level of miR-551b was determined in 50 paraffin-embedded cervical specimens (10 normal squamous epithelium, 18 condylomas, 8 CIN1, and 14 CIN2-3) using quantitative Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). χ2-test compared miR-551b expression in different diagnosis groups. An Ordered Logistic Regression and a Probit correlation were made to correlate miR-551b expression levels with the cervical tissue histological findings. The immunohistochemical distribution of p16 and Ki-67 according to histopathological findings was also assessed.

RESULTS: The distribution of the miR-551b expression profile was significantly lower in CIN1-3 samples compared to other histological diagnosis groups (condyloma and negative). The expression levels were inversely correlated to the cervical pathological grade, from negative to CIN2-3. A 1% increase in miR-551b expression level produced an increase of 19% to the probability of a minor histological grade diagnosis in a range from negative to CIN2-3 and an increase of 13% to the probability of a negative histological grade diagnosis. Among the cases with miR-551b expression < 0.02 (considered as cut-off value) a significant statistical correlation was found between p16 and Ki-67 expression and the diagnosis of CIN2-3.

CONCLUSIONS: Our data showed a significant inverse correlation between miR-551b expression and the histological grading of the lesions, suggesting a tumor suppressive function in the different stages of cervical dysplasia.

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