Correlation between Common Lower Genital Tract Microbes and High-Risk Human Papillomavirus Infection

Panpan Lv; Fang Zhao; Xiaoqin Xu; Jun Xu; Qiang Wang; Zhen Zhao

doi:10.1155/2019/9678104

Correlation between Common Lower Genital Tract Microbes and High-Risk Human Papillomavirus Infection

Can J Infect Dis Med Microbiol. 2019 Nov 22:2019:9678104. doi: 10.1155/2019/9678104. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Panpan Lv¹, Fang Zhao¹, Xiaoqin Xu¹, Jun Xu², Qiang Wang¹, Zhen Zhao¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Minhang Hospital, Fudan University, No. 170 XinSong Road, Shanghai 201199, China.
² Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Minhang Hospital, Fudan University, No. 170 XinSong Road, Shanghai 201199, China.

Abstract

Background: High-risk human papillomavirus (hr-HPV) infection is a necessary cause of cervical cancer. However, other common lower genital tract microbes may increase hr-HPV infection and their related cervical cytopathy.

Methods: To confirm this hypothesis, cervical brush and vaginal swab specimens were collected from 826 adult patients who were divided into the hr-HPV-positive group (254) and the negative group (572) by real-time PCR assay. Cervical specimens were tested for Ureaplasma parvum (UP), Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU), and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) using PCR analysis. Vaginal secretion was detected for Trichomonas vaginalis (TV), Candida spp., and bacterial vaginosis (BV) with conventional assay.

Results: Among hr-HPV-positive women, UP was found in 51.6%, UU in 15.4%, CT in 15.7%, Candida spp. in 11.0%, TV in 3.1%, and BV in 20.5%. In the hr-HPV-negative group, UP was positive in 36.2%, UU in 8.6%, CT in 4.0%, Candida spp. in 12.4%, TV in 0.2%, and BV in 7.0%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis with age-adjusted showed that UU (OR, 1.757), UP (OR, 1.804), CT (OR, 3.538), BV (OR, 3.020), and TV (OR, 14.109) were risk factors on hr-HPV infection (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: These microbes might induce cervical chronic inflammation that would damage the mucosal barrier and immune protection to promote the infection of hr-HPV.