Objective: We have previously shown that Brn-3a is elevated in biopsies from women in the United Kingdom with high grade cervical neoplasia, and that it specifically trans-activates the HPV URR in vitro and in vivo. The aim of this study is to establish the relationship of Brn-3a, HPV E6 and pathological diagnosis in cervical smear from women in a developing country with a high prevalence of cervical disease. This is a follow-up of our previous work in which for the first time Brn-3a and E6 levels in cervical smears from women in United Kingdom were shown to correlate with the histological diagnosis of cervical neoplasia and were even better in predicting underlying pre-malignant disease than conventional procedures.
Method: Cervical smears from 295 women with cervical abnormalities attending gynecological clinics in Brazil were used to make RNA. The mRNA levels of Brn-3a and HPV E6 were measured and the data obtained were used to establish the relationship between Brn-3a and the histological diagnosis.
Results: The cellular transcription factor Brn-3a was readily measured in cervical smears from the Brazilian population. Its presence was shown to be frequently associated with the expression of HPV E6. The measured level of Brn-3a parallels the severity of the cervical ailment and predicts the pathological categories.
Conclusions: The ability of Brn-3a to predict for cervical ailments is independent to the geographical characteristics of the population, and hence it could be used routinely as an adjunct to colposcopy and pathological diagnosis in developing and developed countries.