Viral load and high prevalence of HR-HPV52 and 58 types in black women from rural communities

Abstract

Background The high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection is the main cause of cervical cancer development, and the most common types were included in the last approved nonavalent vaccine (9vHPV). Geographical, socioeconomic and ethnic barriers in developing countries challenge primary and secondary prevention measures of cervical cancer. We aimed to determine the prevalence of HPV infection and the viral load of HR-HPV 9vHPV-related types black women resident in rural semi-isolated communities. Methods A descriptive study was conducted with 273 cervical samples of women from rural communities of Southeastern Brazil. Viral DNA was amplified by PCR, the genotype was identified by Reverse Line Blot (RLB) and Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP), and real-time PCR was applied to determine the viral load. Results HPV frequency was 11.4% (31/273), associated with the presence of cytological abnormalities (32.3%; p < 0.001). Thirty-one distinct genotypes were detected; HR-HPV occurred in 64.5% (20/31) of the samples and the most prevalent type were HPV52 > 58, 59. Multiple infections occurred with up to nine different genotypes. The viral load of HR-HPV 9vHPV-related types was higher in lesions than in normal cytology cases (p = 0.04); “high” and “very high” viral load occurred in HSIL and LSIL, respectively (p = 0.04). Conclusions We highlight that despite the low HPV frequency in the black rural women population, the frequency of HR-HPV was high, particularly by the HR-HPV52 and 58 types. Moreover, the HR-HPV viral load increased according to the progression from normal to lesion, being a potential biomarker to identify those women at higher risk of developing cervical lesions in this population.

High-risk HPV prevalence and genotype distribution among women in Liaocheng, Shandong Province, China from 2016 to 2022

“…However, the other vaccine genotypes except for HPV16 did not achieved a reduction in prevalence among 20–29-years-old individuals in our study. Furthermore, the prevalence of HR-HPV, especially HPV52 and HPV58, is higher in black rural women ( 40 ). HPV52 (21.7%) is the most common HR-HPV genotype in rural North China ( 26 ).…”

Comparison of cycle threshold values of the Cobas HPV test and viral loads of the BMRT HPV test in cervical cancer screening

“…Oyervides-Muñoz MA et al ( 25 ) demonstrated a significant difference in HPV viral load between samples with persistent and transient HPV infections. Volpini LPB et al ( 26 ) demonstrated that the viral load of the hrHPV among the types included in the 9-valent HPV vaccine was higher in the cases with cervical lesions. Luo et al ( 27 ) reported that Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) based on relative light units showed indirectly that viral load was positively associated with cervical lesions by grade.…”