Genetic polymorphisms of certain classes of glutathione S-transferase (GST), enzyme responsible for
the biotransformation of drugs and xenobiotics, have been associated with risk of several cancers such
as cervical cancer. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of glutathione S-transferase M1
and T1 deletion on high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infections and on dysplasia. A case-
control study was carried out on 1069 endocervical samples from West African women including 482
HR-HPV positive and 139 patients had cervical lesions according to visual inspection with acetic acid
and Lugol (VIA/VILI) screening. Deletion of the GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes was determined using
conventional PCR and genotypes of HR-HPV by real-time PCR. An association with a reduced risk for
HR-HPV infection was observed in Ivorian population with GSTT1-null (OR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.40 - 0.92,
p= 0.02) and GSTM1-active/GSTT1-null genotypes (OR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.35 - 0.90, p= 0.02). In West
African, women with GSTT1-null genotype had 1.72-fold higher risk for infection with HPV66 (p= 0.044)
and reduced risk (OR = 0.39) for HPV35. Whereas women with GSTM1-null/GSTT1-active genotype had
2.32-fold higher risk for HPV18 infection (p= 0.042). GSTT1-null genotype was associated to cervical
lesions in West African with a reduced risk (OR = 0.63, p= 0.017). The results of the present study
demonstrate that GSTT1-null could be associated with cervical lesions and HPV35 infection with reduced
risk. GSTM1-null associated with GSTT1-active could play a role in increasing the risk for HPV18 infection.

Cervical cancer, GSTM1, GSTT1, HR-HPV