Prevalence and associated factors of betapapillomavirus infections in individuals without cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.
Betapapillomavirus (betaPV) infections are often associated with squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC) and the prevalence of betaPV infections in (immunosuppressed) SCC patients is known to be high. The distribution and possible associated factors of betaPV infections in the general population, however, are largely unknown. To address this issue, betaPV infection was studied in 1405 SCC-free immunocompetent (n=845) and immunosuppressed (n=560) individuals from six countries of different latitudes. A standard study protocol was used to obtain information about age, sex, UV-irradiation and skin type, and from all participants eyebrow hairs were collected for detection and genotyping of 25 established betaPV types using the PM-PCR reverse hybridization assay (RHA) method. The frequency of betaPV-positive participants ranged from 84 to 91% in the immunocompetent population with HPV23 as the most prevalent type, and from 81 to 98% in the immunosuppressed population with HPV23 as the most or the second most prevalent type. The median number of infecting betaPV types ranged from four to six in the immunocompetent and from three to six in the immunosuppressed population. Increasing age in the immunocompetent participants and (duration of) immunosuppression in the immunosuppressed patients were associated with betaPV infection. In both groups, sex, skin phototype, sunburns and sun-exposure were not consistently associated with betaPV infection. This study demonstrates that betaPV infections are also highly prevalent in SCC-free individuals, with similar HPV types prevailing in both immunocompetent and immunosuppressed persons. Age and (duration of) immunosuppression were identified as betaPV infection-associated factors, whereas characteristics related to sun exposure and skin type were not.
de Koning
Maurits N C
MNC
Department of Medical Microbiology, Center of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.|DDL Diagnostic Laboratory, Voorburg, The Netherlands.
Weissenborn
Sönke Jan
SJ
Institute of Virology, University of Cologne, Köln, Germany.
Abeni
Damiano
D
Istituto Dermopatico dell'Immacolata IDI-IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
Bouwes Bavinck
Jan Nico
JN
Department of Dermatology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Euvrard
Sylvie
S
Department of Dermatology, Hospital Edouard Herriot, Lyon, France.
Green
Adele C
AC
Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia.
Harwood
Catherine A
CA
Centre for Cutaneous Research, Institute of Cell and Molecular Science, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University London, London, UK.
Naldi
Luigi
L
Department of Dermatology and GISED Study Center, Ospedali Riuniti, Bergamo, Italy.
Neale
Rachel
R
Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia.
Nindl
Ingo
I
DKFZ - Charité, Viral Skin Carcinogenesis, Division Viral Transformation Mechanisms, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
Proby
Charlotte M
CM
Centre for Cutaneous Research, Institute of Cell and Molecular Science, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University London, London, UK.
Quint
Wim G V
WGV
DDL Diagnostic Laboratory, Voorburg, The Netherlands.
Sampogna
Francesca
F
Istituto Dermopatico dell'Immacolata IDI-IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
Ter Schegget
Jan
J
Department of Medical Microbiology, Center of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.|DDL Diagnostic Laboratory, Voorburg, The Netherlands.
Struijk
Linda
L
Department of Medical Microbiology, Center of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Wieland
Ulrike
U
Institute of Virology, University of Cologne, Köln, Germany.
Pfister
Herbert J
HJ
Institute of Virology, University of Cologne, Köln, Germany.
Feltkamp
Mariet C W
MCW
Department of Medical Microbiology, Center of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
The Epi-Hpv-Uv-Ca Group
DDL Diagnostic Laboratory, Voorburg, The Netherlands.