HPV infection and bacterial microbiota in the semen from healthy men

Abstract

Background Aberrant microbiota composition has been linked to disease development at numerous anatomical sites. Microbiota changes in reaction to viral infections, such as human papillomavirus (HPV), have been investigated almost exclusively in the female reproductive tract. However, HPV infection may also affect male health by reducing semen quality and fertility. The aim of this study was to investigate whether present HPV DNA is associated with detectable changes in semen bacterial microbiota composition and diversity. Methods This study relied on stored semen samples from 31 fertile healthy men who participated in the Finnish family HPV Study during the years 1998–2001. DNA was extracted from semen with PCR template preparation kit. HPV was genotyped using Luminex-based Multimetrix® assay. Microbiota was analyzed from the V3-V4 region of 16S rDNA gene following sequencing on an Illumina MiSeq platform. All statistical analyses were performed with Calypso software version 8.84. Results HPV DNA was detected in 19.4% (6/31) of the semen samples. HPV status in the semen did not impact the α-diversity estimations, as measured by Chao1 and Shannon indices, nor ß-diversity. Nevertheless, HPV-positive semen samples exhibited differences in the taxonomic composition of the bacterial microbiota including higher abundances of Moraxellaceae (p = 0.028), Streptococcus (p = 0.0058) and Peptostreptococcus (p = 0.012) compared to HPV-negative semen samples. Conclusion HPV infection is associated with altered bacterial microbiota composition in semen, and this might have in impact to male health in general. As of present, it is unclear whether these changes result from HPV infection or whether altered bacterial microbiota increases susceptibility to HPV infection. More research is needed on viral-bacterial interactions in the male reproductive system.

Presence of HPV in prostate tissue from patients submitted to prostate biopsy

“…Tuominen et al . 31 found 19% HPV in their semen samples, and only one-third of the HPV-positive patients had high oncologic risk subtypes.…”

Human seminal virome: a panel based on recent literature

“…HPV was the first virus included in this panel, as it is usually present in semen samples [ 34 , 129 , 195 , 196 ]. Furthermore, according to Boeri et al [ 197 ], accurate investigation of the presence of seminal HPV in the diagnostic analysis of infertile men is of paramount importance, not only for its potential negative pathophysiological impact on male fertility but also in terms of the general health of men.…”

High-Risk HPV with Multiple Infections Promotes CYP2E1, Lipoperoxidation and Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines in Semen of Asymptomatic Infertile Men

“…In relation to CYP2E1 expression, the results demonstrate that the highest signal found in this study by HPV infection was the overexpression of CYP2E1, and moreover, a differentially higher expression was detected in MI-HPV compared to SI-HPV. Concerning this finding, a recent study showed that men with seminal HPV DNA had higher relative abundance of specific seminal bacteria compared to men without seminal HPV DNA [ 36 ]. In this study, the overexpression of CYP2E1 could be caused by metabolites generated by co-infection with other microbes, as has been described in previous studies [ 5 , 6 , 25 ], and the higher overexpression in MI over SI could be explained by the higher abundance of HPV diversity and a higher abundance of resident microbes.…”