title: Antibody responses to 26 skin human papillomavirus types in the Netherlands, Italy and Australia.
abstract: Solar UV radiation is the main risk factor for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), but infections with skin human papillomavirus (HPV) types have also been linked to the development of SCC. Little is known about the natural history of these infections and whether the seroprevalence of skin HPV types is affected by ambient or individual levels of sun exposure. This study investigated this by analysing sera for antibodies to 26 skin HPV types from five phylogenetic genera obtained from 807 healthy individuals from the Netherlands, Italy and Australia, countries with strong differences in sunlight intensity. Overall HPV seroprevalence was similar across the three countries (50-57 % for beta-HPV types, 40-48 % for gamma-HPV types), and the most frequent beta-HPV and gamma-HPV types were the same in all countries. The highest seroprevalences for 24 of the 26 skin HPV types were observed in Italy (14 types) and Australia (ten types). Seroprevalence among men was generally higher than among women, and the male sex was significantly associated with both beta-HPV [odds ratio (OR) 2.81, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.64-4.82] and gamma-HPV (OR 2.42, 95 % CI 1.40-4.18) antibodies in Australia. The only measure of sun sensitivity or UV exposure significantly associated with skin HPV seroprevalence was found for weekend sun exposure in Australia and beta-HPV antibodies. It was concluded that type spectra and HPV seroprevalence are similar in countries with different sunlight intensity, and that levels of UV exposure do not play a strong role in the development of skin HPV antibodies in this study population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genome Modifications and Carcinogenesis, Infections and Cancer Program, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Waterboer
authors.affiliation: Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Neale
authors.affiliation: Department of Genome Modifications and Carcinogenesis, Infections and Cancer Program, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Kristina M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Michael
authors.affiliation: Department of Genome Modifications and Carcinogenesis, Infections and Cancer Program, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sehr
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: Institute of Virology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Sönke J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Weißenborn
authors.affiliation: Istituto Dermopatico dell'Immacolata IDI-IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sampogna
authors.affiliation: Istituto Dermopatico dell'Immacolata IDI-IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Damiano
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Abeni
authors.affiliation: Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Adele C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Green
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jan Nico
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Bouwes Bavinck
authors.affiliation: Department of Genome Modifications and Carcinogenesis, Infections and Cancer Program, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pawlita
authors.affiliation: Department of Genome Modifications and Carcinogenesis, Infections and Cancer Program, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.lastname: The Epi-Hpv-Uv-Ca Group
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D010212:Papilloma / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000276:immunology*; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D017193:Skin Diseases, Viral / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D013472:Sunlight
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral