Prevalence and type distribution of human papillomavirus in a Chinese urban population between 2014 and 2018: a retrospective study

Detecting and genotyping high-risk human papillomavirus among male patients during 2015-2023 in Beijing, China

Few studies focused on human papillomavirus (HPV) in male patients. This study aimed to explore the detection rate and genotyping of HPV among male patients in Beijing to provide a reference for formulating prevention strategies for HPV infection. The cross-sectional study was conducted in Beijing Chaoyang Hospital from November 2015 to March 2023. It covered male patients from the urology and dermatology departments. Fifteen high-risk HPV genotypes were detected by the multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction method. The overall detection rate of HPV was 25.19% (1288/5114, 95% confidence interval [CI] 24.00%-26.38%), of which the single infection rate was 16.99% (869/5114, 95% CI 15.97%-18.05%) and the co-infection rate was 8.19% (419/5114, 95% CI 7.46%-8.98%). The detection rate of HPV was 40.77% (521/1278), 35.58% (58/163), 32.69% (101/309), 31.91% (60/188), 12.63% (299/2367), and 32.35% (131/405) among male patients with balanitis, warts, rash, urethritis, prostatitis, and other urinary inflammation, respectively (P < 0.001). The top five HPV genotypes were HPV-52, HPV-58, HPV-16, HPV-51, and HPV-66. After the first positive HPV test, the proportion of male patients who turned negative was 22.47% within 3 months, 26.40% within 3-6 months, 24.72% within 6-12 months, 17.98% within 12-24 months, and 8.43% more than 24 months. The detection rate of HPV was high among male patients from the urology and dermatology departments in Beijing, which should be considered to develop HPV vaccines with better prevention effects.

Joint detection of multiple HPV-testing technologies and evaluation of clinicopathological characteristics discriminate between HPV-independent and low-copy HPV-associated cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) -an analysis of 3869 cases

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to investigate the frequency and clinicopathological characteristics of HPV-independent cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC).

METHODS

A total of 3869 patients with CSCC from 2017 to 2021 were searched. p16^INK4a immunochemistry (IHC), two HPV-DNA(L1) polymerase chain reactions and HPV mRNA in situ hybridization were performed. Viral copies were detected using the 21 HPV quantitative test.

RESULTS

Six cases showed negative results in all four assays (group 1, 0.16%). Twenty-seven cases showed discordant results (group 2), and 3836 cases presented all-positive results (group 3). p16^INK4a IHC showed similar sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value compared to the other three direct HPV assays. 21 HPV genotyping showed 100% of negative predictive value. HPV copies were extremely lower in Group 2 than in Group 3 (P < 0.01), but were not significantly different from those in Group 1. Older age, advanced FIGO stage (III-IV) and abnormal p53 (p53abn) IHC were independent predictors of HPV-negative status in univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Group 2 had similar proportions of age >60 years and p53abn IHC with Group 1, but had fewer cases with advanced FIGO stage (P < 0.05) and TILs (P < 0.05). Groups 1 and 2 had worse disease-free survival (DFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) than Group 3 (P < 0.01), while no significant difference was found between these two groups. HPV-negative status was a risk factor for both DFS (P < 0.05) and DSS (P < 0.01) in univariate but not multivariate Cox regression.

CONCLUSIONS

Joint detection of multiple technologies and evaluation of clinicopathological characteristics discriminate between HPV-independent and low-copy HPV-associated CSCC cases that present similar prognoses. Additional attention should be paid to these low-copy HPV-associated cases in clinical practice.

hnRNP E1 Regulates HPV16 Oncogene Expression and Inhibits Cervical Cancerization

hnRNP E1 (heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein E1) is an important RNA-binding protein (RBPs) that plays a vital role in tumor development. Human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) contains numerous sites that can bind to RNA/DNA and may be modified by multiple RBPs, which contribute to HPV gene expression and HPV-associated cancer development. However, the effects of hnRNP E1 on HPV16 oncogenes in the development of cervical lesions remain unclear. A total of 816 participants with different grades of cervical lesions were enrolled in a community-based cohort established in Shanxi Province, China. The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases were used to analyze the association between hnRNP E1 mRNA expression and cervical lesions. Cells with up_ and down_regulated hnRNP E1 were established. hnRNP E1 functions were evaluated using cell counting kit-8, flow cytometry analyses, and chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing. Our results showed that hnRNP E1 expression was linearly dependent on the severity of the cervical lesions. Low expression of HPV16 E2, high expression of E6, and a low ratio of E2 to E6 could increase the risk of cervical lesions. hnRNP E1 expression was correlated with HPV16 oncogene expression. hnRNP E1-relevant genes were involved in the dopaminergic synapses, Wnt signaling pathway, gnRH secretion, and mTOR signaling pathway. hnRNP E1 significantly inhibited cell proliferation, induced apoptosis, arrested the cell cycle at the G0/G1 stage, and decreased HPV16 E6 expression. Our results indicate that hnRNP E1 could downregulate HPV16 E6 oncogene expression and inhibit cervical cancerization, which sheds new light on preventing the carcinogenicity of HPV across a range of diseases by regulating RNA-binding proteins.

Prevalence and genotype distribution of high-risk human papillomavirus infection among women with cervical cytological abnormalities in Chongqing, China, 2014-2020

BACKGROUND

Persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) is the main leading cause of cervical precancerous lesions and cervical cancer. This study aims to explore the epidemiological characteristics of HR-HPV genotypes and their correlation with the ThinPrep cytological test (TCT) results among women in Chongqing, in China.

METHODS

In this retrospective study, cervical exfoliations of 14,548 women who visited Chongqing university cancer hospital were collected for detecting HR-HPV genotypes and TCT.

RESULTS

Overall, the rate of HR-HPV infection was 14.26%. The three most common HR-HPV genotypes are HPV52 (4.39%), HPV58 (2.21%), and HPV16 (1.94%). In this study, the positive rate of cervical TCT was 4.54%. Atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US), atypical squamous cells that could not exclude high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (ASU-H), low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL), high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL), and atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance (AGC) were 2.99%, 0.20%, 0.92%, 0.29%, and 0.14%, respectively. Among the several types of cytological lesions, the HR-HPV infection rates of ASC-US, ASC-H, LSIL, HSIL, and (AGC) were 24.82%, 41.38%, 64.18%, 95.24%, and 23.81%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

HPV52, HPV 58, and HPV16 are the most common infection subtypes in Chongqing. When implementing HPV vaccine programs in Chongqing, HPV58 and HPV52 should be attached importance as HPV16 and HPV18.