Screening and detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) high-risk strains HPV16 and HPV18 in saliva samples from subjects under 18 years old in Nevada: a pilot study

Abstract

BackgroundHuman papillomaviruses (HPV) are oncogenic and mainly associated with cervical cancers. Recent evidence has demonstrated HPV infection in other tissues, including oral epithelia and mucosa. Although a recent pilot study provided new information about oral HPV status in healthy adults from Nevada, no information was obtained about oral HPV prevalence among children or teenagers, therefore, the goal of this study is to provide more detailed information about oral prevalence of high-risk HPV among children and teenagers in Nevada.MethodsThis retrospective study utilized previously collected saliva samples, obtained from pediatric dental clinic patients (aged 2 – 11) and local school district teenagers (aged 12-17) for high-risk HPV screening (n=118) using qPCR for quantification and confirmation of analytical sensitivity and specificity.ResultsA small subset of saliva samples were found to harbor high-risk HPV16 (n=2) and HPV18 (n=1), representing a 2.5% of the total. All three were obtained from teenage males, and two of these three samples were from White participants.ConclusionsAlthough this retrospective study could not provide correlations with behavioral or socioeconomic data, this project successfully screened more than one hundred saliva samples for high-risk HPV, confirming both HPV16 and HPV18 strains were present in a small subset. With increasing evidence of oral HPV infection in children, this study provides critical information of significant value to other dental, medical, oral and public health professionals who seek to further an understanding of oral health and disease risk in pediatric populations.

A Pilot Study into the Association between Oral Health Status and Human Papillomavirus—16 Infection

“…A range of potential risk factors for oral HPV-16 infections, such as close contact with HPV-positive parents during early childhood [12], or maternal cervical/vaginal contact with a HPV-positive mother during birth [36] have been proposed. In addition, it is widely accepted that oral sexual activities are an established risk factor for HPV-16 infection [15,25,26,27,28,37,38,39].…”

“…More than 30 genotypes of mucosotropic HPV have been identified with low-risk types (most common 6, 11) being associated with benign lesions and high-risk types (most common 16, 18) being associated with malignant conditions (such as cervical malignancy and OPC) [11,12,13]. HPV-16-driven OPC constitute 90% of HPV-positive OPC [14].…”

Integrated HPV genomes tend to integrate in gene desert areas in the CaSki, HeLa, and SiHa cervical cancer cell lines

“…Whether the HPV insertion loci are randomly or regularly distributed in human genome has been widely discussed but remains unclear [11,15,23,31,37]. Theoretically, highly successful integration should lead to persistent expression of viral proteins that is sufficiently robust to induce malignancy.…”

Oral Multifocal Papillary Lesions in a Young Child: Clinico-Pathologic and Medico-Legal Considerations

“…Mantet al even suggested that HPV infection could be acquired from peers by horizontal transmission [11]. Recently there is more evidence of oral HPV transmission in children and adolescents through close personal contact anywhere from shared toys and eating utensils to kissing and bathing [10]. In our case, indirect transmission via fomites is likely with possible direct autoinoculation to multiple sites in the mouth following oral trauma or biting.…”

“…More recent literature suggests the possibility of oral HPV infection as a result of direct personal contact between family members or indirect contact (fomite transmission) [9,10]. Mantet al even suggested that HPV infection could be acquired from peers by horizontal transmission [11].…”