Influence of human papillomavirus infection on the vaginal microbiome of women with immunocompetency

Abstract

Introduction:The influence of vaginal infections on the natural history of human papillomavirus (HPV) is still unclear. Objective: To determine if patients with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSILs) and HPV have more vulvovaginitis than patients with normal liquid-based cervical cytology who were negative for HPV. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study including 322 patients who underwent cervical exams. One hundred and sixty-seven of these patients had LSILs on cervical cytology and were simultaneously hybrid capture 2 (HC2)-positive for HPV, and the remaining 155 patients were negative for malignancies and intraepithelial lesions by cytology and HC2-negative for HPV. The prevalence of vaginal infections in both groups was compared using the χ 2 test without Yates' correction. Results: Among the patients with HPV and LSILs, the most common vaginal infection was vaginosis (8.98%) compared to candidiasis (12.9%) in the patients without LSILs and HPV. No significant differences were found in the prevalence of vaginosis between the two groups (p=0.53). Candidiasis was statistically more prevalent in patients without LSILs and HPV (p<0.001). Conclusion: An association was found between the presence of Candida and the absence of HPV. Although vaginosis was more frequent among patients with LSILs and HPV, it was not statistically significant.

Atypical Squamous Cells in Liquid-Based Cervical Cytology: Microbiology, Inflammatory Infiltrate, and Human Papillomavirus-DNA Testing

“…On the other hand, the presence of Candida spp. was correlated more frequently with a negative HPV-DNA in a cross-sectional study on the influence of HPV on cytological vaginitis with LSIL [27] . Another report considered that Candida spp.…”