Tracing Human Papillomavirus DNA in Nasal Polyps by Polymerase Chain Reaction

Abstract

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections are related to the genesis of various benign and malignant human neoplasias. The HPV types 16 and 18 seem to be causally related to the development of most squamous cell carcinoma of the anogenital tract and a proportion of carcinomas of the upper aerodigestive tract. The near 100% positivity of the HPV types 6 and 11 in laryngeal papillomatosis is well established. We investigated whether HPV also plays a role in non-neoplastic mucosal entities such as sinunasal polyposis, the genesis of which has been discussed as being triggered by viral infections. On DNA from 39 sinunasal polyps (33 patients), polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed using beta-globin primers for demonstration of amplifiable DNA in the tissue extracts. Consensus primers for the detection of several different HPV types were applied to the beta-globin-positive samples. The results were confirmed by Southern blot hybridization using consensus probes. Cycle sequencing was performed on the positive cases. All 39 samples showed positive signals for beta-globin. HPV-DNA investigations showed a slight positive signal in only 1 of the 39 investigated cases (2.6%). Further molecular investigations of this sample, including cycle sequencing, could not confirm this result. All the other tissue samples remained HPV-DNA-negative. Therefore, those HPV types readily detectable with the PCR primers and probes used are not frequently associated with sinunasal polyposis. The data confirm the hypothesis that HPV is correlated to a lesser extent to infectious mucosal lesions than to proliferative lesions. Furthermore, the results emphasize that the presence of HPV in specific lesions does not occur by chance, but represents a specific infection of the mucosa leading to proliferation and even to malignancy.

Human Papillomavirus in Non-Oropharyngeal Head and Neck Cancers: A Systematic Literature Review

“…There are limited data regarding sinonasal HPV ''carrier'' rates. Hoffmann [46] found HPV in 1 of 39 (2.6 %) sinonasal polyps.…”

Prevalence of human papilloma virus and human herpes virus types 1–7 in human nasal polyposis

“…The infection type thought to be present in tissue specimens has influenced the conclusions drawn from investigation analysis, that is, whether or not the infection plays a causal role in the development of the lesions [Hoffmann, 2000].…”

“…Since the molecular alterations required for nasal polyp development have only recently been investigated, the molecular mechanisms behind nasal polyps are poorly understood. Along with various factors, including K-RAS codon 12 mutations/elevated expression levels [Zaravinos et al, 2007], increased expression of VEGFA and TGFB1 [Watelet et al, 2004;Little et al, 2008;Zaravinos et al, 2008b] and BRAF and RKIP underexpression [Zaravinos et al, 2008a], virus infection is considered to play a causative role in the pathogenesis of nasal polyposis, excepting malignant sinonasal neoplasms [Kozak et al, 1991;Becker et al, 1994;Hoffmann et al, 2000Hoffmann et al, , 2006Zhou et al, 2001;Lu et al, 2007].…”

Detection of Herpesviruses 1-6 and Community-Acquired Respiratory Viruses in Patients with Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyposis

“…Viral infections have been hypothesized to play a role in the pathogenesis, progression and recurrence of CRSwNP [10]. While human papillomavirus has been associated rather to neoplastic lesions [11,12,13], very few studies have investigated the role of herpesviruses and community-acquired respiratory viruses (CARVs) with no definitive conclusions [14]. The Herpesviridae family encompasses several DNA viruses that are able to establish lifelong latent infections and reactivate in immunocompromised conditions; in particular, human herpesviruses (HHV) 1-6 (including HSV-1 and -2, VZV, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), CMV) are highly seroprevalent and have been associated to upper airway infections.…”