title: Betapapillomaviruses frequently persist in the skin of healthy individuals.
abstract: Infections with human papillomaviruses (HPVs) belonging to the genus Betapapillomavirus have been linked to the development of non-melanoma skin cancer. Although persistence is expected, systematic investigation of this aspect of betapapillomavirus (beta-PV) infection has not been conducted. This study investigated the prevalence and persistence of 25 known beta-PV types in the skin of immunocompetent individuals. Over a 2 year period, eight consecutive plucked eyebrow hair samples taken from 23 healthy individuals were analysed for the presence of beta-PV DNA. Using a recently published general beta-PV PCR and genotyping method, 61% of the individuals were beta-PV DNA positive for one or more types at intake, whereas during follow-up this percentage rose to 96%. HPV23 was the most frequently detected beta-PV type. Type-specific beta-PV DNA was detected over 6 months or longer in 74% of the individuals. In 57% of the individuals, DNA from multiple beta-PV types was detected simultaneously for 6 months or longer. When the detection intervals of all beta-PV type-specific infections in the study population were considered, a substantial proportion, 48%, lasted at least half a year. The consistent beta-PV patterns found over time in most individuals strongly suggested that beta-PV DNA detection in plucked eyebrow hairs reveals true beta-PV infection. If the minimum interval of detection was set at 6 months, persistent beta-PV infections were found in the majority of the study population (74%).
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Center of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.|DDL Diagnostic Laboratory, Voorburg, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Maurits N C
authors.initials: MNC
authors.lastname: de Koning
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Center of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Struijk
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jan Nico Bouwes
authors.initials: JNB
authors.lastname: Bavinck
authors.affiliation: DDL Diagnostic Laboratory, Voorburg, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kleter
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Center of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.|DDL Diagnostic Laboratory, Voorburg, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ter Schegget
authors.affiliation: DDL Diagnostic Laboratory, Voorburg, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Wim G V
authors.initials: WGV
authors.lastname: Quint
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Center of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mariet C W
authors.initials: MCW
authors.lastname: Feltkamp
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D052686:Betapapillomavirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006197:Hair / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007121:Immunocompetence; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012016:Reference Values; D012867:Skin / Q000821:virology*