Our results suggest that the lung tumor patients have high prevalence of HPV and the virus is not only present but also active in tumor cells. Therefore, the HPV is probably playing a role in lung carcinogenesis.

This study showed the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) variants as well as nucleotide changes within L1 gene and LCR of the HPV16, HPV31, and HPV58 found in cervical lesions of women from North-East Brazil.

ABSTRACT. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is considered a risk factor for cervical cancer. Even if the high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) infection is necessary, environmental co-factors and genetic susceptibility also play an important role in cervical cancer development. In this study, a possible association of rs1695 GSTP1 polymorphisms, HR-HPV infection, and oral contraceptive use with cancer lesion development in women was investigated. The study population comprised 441 Brazilian women from the Northeast region including 98 HPV-infected women with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, 77 HPV-infected women with lowgrade squamous intraepithelial lesions, and 266 HPV-negative women with no lesion, used as a control. Our data did not show a significant association between the GSTP1 polymorphism A/G (rs1695) and any HPV-related cervical abnormalities. However, considering the use of oral contraceptives, the GSTP1 rs1695 polymorphism was associated with higher susceptibility to the development of cervical lesions in HR-HPV-infected women. Our study suggests a synergic effect of oral contraceptive use, GSTP1 polymorphisms, and HR-HPV infection in the development of cervical lesions. Together, these risk factors may induce neoplastic transformation of the cervical squamous epithelium, setting conditions for secondary genetic events leading to cervical cancer.

This study evaluated the presence of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) DNA in the cervix and peripheral blood of women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN I, II, and III) and healthy individuals. Overall, 139 paired peripheral blood and cervix samples of healthy women and women with CIN I, II, and III (n = 68) were tested for HPV DNA by using standard procedures. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) sequencing determined HPV types. Quantification of HPV16 E6 and E2 genes was performed to determine viral load and physical state. HPV DNA was detected in the cervix (21.1% in healthy individuals; 48.8–55.5% in CIN patients), blood (46.4% in healthy individuals; 44.1–77.7% in CIN patients) and paired peripheral blood and cervix samples (24% in healthy individuals; 32.5–44.4% in CIN patients). The most frequent types found in the cervix were HPV16, 18, 31, 33, 58, and 70, while HPV16, 18, 33, 58, and 66 were the most frequent types found in the blood. HPV DNA in the cervix was associated with previous sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (p = 0.023; OR: 2.978; CI:1.34–7.821), HPV DNA in the blood (p = 0.000; OR: 8.283; CI:3.700–18.540), and cervical lesions (CIN I/II or III) (p = 0.007). Binomial logistic regression showed that HPV DNA in the blood (p = 0.000; OR: 9.324; CI:3.612–24.072) and cervical lesions (p = 0.011; OR: 3.622; CI:1.338–9.806) were associated with HPV DNA in the cervix. However, we did not find an association between HPV DNA in the blood and cervical lesions (p = 0.385). Our results showed that only HPV DNA found in the cervix was associated with cervical lesions.

Papillomaviruses are found in epithelial lesions and are linked to different carcinogenic processes in humans and other animals. Although BPV has been characterized as epitheliotropic, the presence of viral DNA has been detected in other tissues and fluids, such as fresh semen. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence and expression of BPV in sperm cells of bulls (Bos taurus) asymptomatic for papillomatosis. A PCR assay was carried out with specific primers to test BPV2 in 26 semen samples. The presence of BPV transcripts was assessed by RT-PCR to E2 and E5 genes. BPV2 DNA was detected in nine out of 26 samples and the expression of E2 and E5 were detected in five out of nine BPV positive samples. This is the first record of BPV2 expression in bull sperm cells.Keywords Bovine papillomavirus Á Semen Á Viral gene expression Papillomaviruses (PVs) are double-stranded DNA tumour viruses identified in a broad range of animal species that belongs to the amniotes, including human being [1]. So far, 13 genotypes of Bovine papillomavirus (BPV1-13) have been characterized [21] and classified in three different genera: Deltapapillomaviruses (BPV1 and 2), Epsilonpapillomaviruses (BPV5 and 8) and Xipapillomaviruses (BPV3, 4, 6, 9, 10 and 11). BPV7 is classified as an unassigned PV genus [12,14]. BPVs from Delta-PVs and BPV5 can infect epithelial and subepithelial fibroblasts inducing fibro-epithelial tumours in cattle, known as fibropapillomas while BPVs from another genus can induce true papillomas [22]. Normally, papillomas regress as a result of cellmediate immune response [17]. However, occasionally papillomas may develop in squamous cell carcinoma as a result of involvement of environmental and genetic cofactors [3,5]. Recently, the co-infection among BPVs in skin lesions (warts) has been described, but the real significance of this finding need to be clarified [7,25,31].PVs are described as epitheliotropic viruses, although their presence has been detected in different tissues and cells [11,20,36]. Few studies have contributed to improved understanding of PV transmission, however, its spread through non-epithelial, however, its spreading of through non-epithelial tissues and fluids has been suggested [6,11].In humans, infected sperm are able to penetrate the oocyte, to deliver HPV genome in the oocyte and HPV genes can be actively transcribed by the fertilized oocyte [10]. There are few reports focusing on the study of BPV in reproductive tract and its cells [13,35] although the BPV-1 were described in the prepuce and penis [16] and BPV-2 were found infecting placenta and actively expressed in equine semen [30,34]. In an early study, we demonstrate the high incidence of BPV2 in commercial doses of bull semen from national and multinational companies [33]. However, studies are needed to understand the biological significance of BPV presence in semen. The present study aimed to evaluate the presence of BPV in sperm cells of healthy bull, as well as the viral gene expression. The semen was collected fro...