Abstract 2441: Higher levels of LPS in blood plasma as potential novel biomarker for cancer risk in Puerto Rican people living with HIV
Authors: Reyes Jurelis Torres , Shull Tanner L. , Borges-Velez Gabriel , Gonzalez Veronica S. Sanchez , Montilla Jeannette L. Salgado , Santiago Josue Perez 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
Background: People living with HIV (PWH) have a significantly higher risk of developing cancers than people without HIV (PWOH), even with suppressive antiretroviral therapy. Puerto Rico (PR) is considered a high-risk group disproportionately affected by HIV and a priority group for cancer prevention strategies. Dysbiosis of the human microbiota can contribute to persistent inflammation by upregulating TGF-β (microbial-induced oncogenesis biomarker), which can promote the translocation of microbial products into the bloodstream, increasing cancer risk at local and distant sites. However, the relationship between TGF-β, and microbial products such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) in relation to HIV infection is poorly understood, therefore we aimed to quantify the levels of LPS and SCFA in the blood plasma of PWH vs. PWOH and investigated their relationship with cancer risk measured by TGF-β.
Methods: Blood samples, sociodemographic, and clinical data from 80 adults (50 PWH and 30 PWOH) were collected. PWH were virally suppressed (&lt;50 copies/mL) with a median CD4 count of 699.8 cells/µL. We measured TGF-β, LPS, and soluble CD14 (sCD14. marker of innate immune activation and microbial translocation) using immunoassays. SCFA (acetate, butyrate, and propionate) were measured using gas chromatography followed by mass spectrometry. Differences in the median levels of TGF-β, LPS, and SCFAs were evaluated using a Mann-Whitney test. We assessed the effects of LPS, SCFAs, and HIV infections in relationship with levels of TGF-β using multivariate fixed-effects regression analysis in R-statistical software.
Results: PWH had significantly higher levels of TGF-β (4397 pg/mL vs. 1121 pg/mL, p=0.017), higher levels of LPS (38.97 pg/mL vs. 19.26 pg/mL, p&lt;0.001), higher levels of sCD14 (1326 pg/mL vs. 1137 pg/mL, p=0.007), and significantly lower levels of butyrate (84.5 ng/mL vs. 62.0 ng/mL, p&lt;0.001). Higher levels of TGF-b were associated with higher levels of LPS (rho=0.38, p=0.017) and higher levels of sCD14 (rho=0.27, p=0.016) these relationships remain significant after adjusting for HIV status (p&lt;0.001).
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that microbial products in blood plasma can contribute to higher cancer risk in Puerto Rican PWH and may represent potential novel biomarkers for cancer prevention.
Citation Format: Jurelis Torres Reyes, Tanner L. Shull, Gabriel Borges-Velez, Veronica S. Sanchez Gonzalez, Jeannette L. Salgado Montilla, Josue Perez Santiago. Higher levels of LPS in blood plasma as potential novel biomarker for cancer risk in Puerto Rican people living with HIV [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 2441.