LEPTIN ASSOCIATION WITH PROSTATE CANCER AND HIV INFECTION ‐ A DOUBLE EDGE SWORD
Authors: Andavolu Radhika Gade , Stafford Catherine , Andavolu Murthy VS 
Published: November 2023

BACKGROUND

The incidence of several neoplasms occurs with higher frequency in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HlV) and includes Kaposi's sarcoma, non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma, cervical carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the anus. This is understandable since these tumors are generally considered to have a viral etiology. Individuals who are immunologically compromised may be more vulnerable to such neoplasms since they often express diminished cell mediated immunity, suffer from cytokine dysregulation and manifest inadequate tumor surveillance. The most common neoplasms seen in the United States such as breast, lung, colon cancer and less commonly Hodgkin's disease and seminomas are also found in HIV infected persons with up to a three‐fold higher incidence and at an earlier age than noted in non‐HIV infected persons. In contrast to the above, the presence of prostate cancer in HIV infected patients has only sparsely been reported.

Our earlier studies have shown an association between leptin levels and leptin gene polymorphism in patients with breast & prostate cancer (1 & 2). It is known through studies that leptin levels are generally low in patients with HIV infection. This study is initiated to find if leptin and its gene polymorphisms has any effect on the BMI and serum leptin levels that makes people more likely to become infected with HIV but more resistant to the onset of prostate cancer or vice versa.

MATERIALS & METHODS

100 HIV infected male patients over 50 years of age receiving HAART, and 128 non‐HIV infected patients with prostate cancer were recruited in the study after a written consent. Blood was drawn to isolate DNA and to measure serum leptin levels. Body Mass Index was calculated from the height and weight information collected in the data. Polymerase Chain reaction was done to identify 3 different leptin gene polymorphisms. Genotyping was done on the genetic analyzer ABI3130 and the data obtained were analyzed using IBM SPSS statistics 22 software.

RESULTS

Comparative analyses of BMI, Serum leptin levels and genotype frequency of OBD7S1875 and LEPR alleles in both HIV and prostate cancer patients are listed below:

CASES
BMI
SERUM LEPTIN
OBD7S1875 ALLELE
LEPR ALLELE

PROSTATE CAN=128
HIGH
HIGH
LONGER
SHORTER

HIV+PATIENTSN=100
LOW
LOW
SHORTER
LONGER

Significance (p)
0.001
0.0001
0.04
0.009

CONCLUSION

In this study positive correlations of high serum leptin levels and BMI were associated with long allele leptin gene and short allele leptin receptor in non‐HlV infected patients with prostate cancer while HIV infected males were exactly opposite in all values with low serum leptin levels and BMI and short allele leptin gene and long allele leptin receptor. This data suggests leptin can be a double edge sword, substantially increasing infection on one end with the reduced prevalence of prostate cancer in men over 50 with HIV infection and on the other end with increased risk for prostate cancer.

Support or Funding Information

EISENHOWER MEDICAL CENTER ENDOWMENT FUNDS FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE