Sexually transmitted infections in oral cavity lesions: Human papillomavirus,Chlamydia trachomatis, and Herpes simplex virus

Abstract

Objective: Provide evidence of HPV, C. trachomatis, and HSV infection in the oral cavity from patients with different types of stomatological lesions. Materials and Methods: Oral swabs samples were collected from a total of 318 patients. The infectious agents were analyzed using the PCR technique. HPV genotyping and HSV type were studied using the RFLP method. Results: We studied 137 benign lesions (B), 96 potentially malignant disorders (PMD) and 85 oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC). The prevalence of HPV was 34%. The most frequently genotypes detected were 6 low risk and 16 high risk. The prevalence of C. trachomatis was 16% and HSV 3%. Co-infections were detected mostly in benign lesions as following: HPV-C. trachomatis in 4%, C. trachomatis-HSV in 1.8% and HPV-HSV in 0.3%. Conclusion: This report is the first contribution to the identification and genotype characterization of HPV in a scenario little studied in our area, and it also contributes to improving our understanding on sexually transmitted infectious agents and their associations with the oral cavity. Besides, we detect the presence of C. trachomatis and HSV and co-infection with HPV in the oral cavity, which they should be taken into account for diagnostic and treatment purposes.

Human papillomavirus prevalence in oral potentially malignant disorders: Systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The high prevalence of HPV found in our study among OPMD samples from South America could be driven by a high oral HPV prevalence in the general population of that region. In line with this hypothesis, two of the four studies from South America included in our meta‐analysis detected a rather high HPV prevalence in control subjects of 46% and 28%, respectively (Ferreira, Biasoli, Bernabe, Nunes, & Miyahara, 2017; Mosmann et al, 2019). However, in contrast the two other studies reported a prevalence among controls of, respectively, 0 and 9% (Furrer, Benitez, Furnes, Lanfranchi, & Modesti, 2006; Gonzalez et al, 2007).…”

Human Papillomavirus and Chlamydia trachomatis in oral and genital mucosa of women with normal and abnormal cervical cytology

“…So, our prevalence detected is higher than previous studies. Other study conducted by our group, detected 34% of oral HPV in patients with oral lesions [3], while in this present study only one patient had visible oral lesion. However, the absence of clinical signs of lesions in the oral cavity could show a subclinical infection which can be transmitted [17].…”

“…Coinfections may be an important cofactor for the oncogenic transformation. There is evidence that C.trachomatis could act as a cofactor which facilitates HPV infection and contributes to the viral persistence, increasing the risk of developing cervical neoplasia [2,3]. While screening strategies exist for cervical cancer prevention and the vaccination programs started, there is a lack of policies for the control of C.trachomatis infection [4].…”

“…Despite the well-established role of HPV in cervical cancer, evidence suggest that HPV may also be an independent risk factor for oral cancer [6] and it is proposed that C.trachomatis may be a cofactor for HPV associated oropharyngeal cancer [3,7]. A potential correlation between genital and oral STIs suggests that oral sex may be the link to transmission from cervical to oral site [8].…”

“…A potential correlation between genital and oral STIs suggests that oral sex may be the link to transmission from cervical to oral site [8]. Many factors are associated with HPV infection, such as age, tobacco, alcohol, bacterial and viral infections, number of sexual partners, pregnancies, oral and anal sex [3,9]. In view of these data, the present cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of oral and genital HPV and C.trachomatis infection in women with normal and abnormal cervical cytology.…”