Prevalence and development of a risk score for oral human papillomavirus infection in men who have sex with men in Mexico

BACKGROUND

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are at high risk for oral human papillomavirus (HPV infection). There are no specific screening guidelines to facilitate the identification of people at risk for oral HPV infection. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of oral high-risk HPV and create a risk score to identify MSM at higher risk for prevalent oral HPV.

METHODS

We collected baseline data from a clinical trial from a subsample of 500 MSM attending sexually transmitted disease treatment clinics; they provided an oral gargle sample for high-risk HPV detection. We calculated oral high-risk HPV prevalence and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), used a logistic regression model to identify factors associated with high-risk HPV infection, and created a risk score.

RESULTS

The prevalence of any oral high-risk HPV among MSM was 11.1% (95% CI: 8.6-14.2), with a higher prevalence observed among men living with HIV (14.8%). Factors independently associated with oral high-risk HPV were age ≥40 years (OR = 2.71, 95% CI: 1.28-5.73 compared to <40 years), being HIV-positive with CD4 count 200-499 (OR = 2.76, 95% CI: 1.34-5.65 compared to HIV-negative), and recent recreational use of vasodilators (poppers/sildenafil) (OR = 2.02, 95% CI: 1.02-2.97). The risk score had good discriminatory power (AUC = 0.70, 95% CI: 0.63-0.77).

CONCLUSIONS

MSM have specific predictors for prevalent oral high-risk HPV, and a risk score could be used by clinicians to target men with vaccine recommendations and counseling, and identify those who could benefit from primary interventions given the available resources, or for referral to dental services for follow-up when available.

Molecular diagnosis of human papillomavirus in the development of cervical cancer

Cervical cancer (CC) is a major public health problem in developing countries and its most significant etiological risk factor is infection by the human papillomavirus (HPV). The main approach to date for the prevention of CC has been through screening programs, using the cervical smear (PAP test) to detect precursory lesions. The sensitivity and specificity of the PAP smear depend on the skills of the observer to recognize and classify a variety of cellular abnormalities. The development of early diagnoses to detect HPV infection has been a problem as cytology and colposcopy identify the lesion at an advanced stage. Therefore, molecular approaches have become more successful for early CC diagnosis. These molecular techniques recognize HPV DNA sequences by DNA hybridization, PCR-RFLP, hybrid capture and reverse line blot systems. Unfortunately, these systems cannot determine whether the HPV infection is active, latent or persistent. Thus, immunological techniques such as Western blot and ELISA have been designed to follow the immune response against the virus, and they can also be used to identify the stage of the infection. Several companies have developed, manufactured and merchandised gene-based testing systems for the screening, monitoring and diagnosis of HPV. Our review and comments focus on the critical analysis of existing products and their use in clinical practice as well as on immunological systems used mainly in research, but that may be applied in large population screening programs.