Polymorphism of KIR Genes in Women with Human Papillomavirus Infection

Molecular biology screening techniques for early detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in the National CervicalUterine Cancer Program in Cuba provide the opportunity to treat premalignant lesions and prevent progression to cervicaluterine cancer. Objectives: To identify 14 high-risk HPV genotypes in women aged 30 to 50 with negative previous cytology and to identify the polymorphism of killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) genes in a subsample of HPV-positive women. Methods: HPV screening tests were performed on 3,115 women using the COBAS 4800 system with the HPV COBAS kit (Roche, Germany). For KIR gene typing, 60 randomly selected HPV-positive women were analyzed using a molecular method based on hybridization probes on a LUMINEX flow analyzer with the LIFECODES KIR-SSO typing kit (Immucor, USA). Results: 295 (9.5%) women tested positive for one of the 14 high-risk genotypes. The highest percentage of positive women was found among those aged 30 to 39 years (12.0%). Fourteen women had coinfection with HPV16 or HPV18 along with another highrisk genotype. There was a high frequency of genes encoding activating receptors such as KIR 2DL1 (98.3%), KIR 2DL3 (98.3%), and KIR 2DS4*all full length (93.3%). Conclusions: The prevalence of HPV in Cuban women with normal cytology is lower than the global average, with activating KIR genes predominating among positive cases.