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Comparative Study
. 2007 Nov;34(11):849-55.
doi: 10.1097/OLQ.0b013e318064c8c5.

A comparison of cervical and vaginal human papillomavirus

Philip E Castle  1 , Ana C Rodriguez, Carolina Porras, Rolando Herrero, Mark Schiffman, Paula Gonzalez, Allan Hildesheim, Robert D Burk
Affiliations
Comparative Study

A comparison of cervical and vaginal human papillomavirus

Philip E Castle et al. Sex Transm Dis. 2007 Nov.

Abstract

Objectives: We wanted to compare detection of a broad spectrum of human papillomavirus (HPV) types detected in cellular specimens from the vagina and cervix, which could provide information about the potential of each anatomical site for harboring infection. Previous studies have failed to present data on or detect a broad spectrum of HPV genotypes and/or have not carefully sampled the vagina, instead relying on self-collection that is likely contaminated with cervical cells.

Study design: We conducted follow-up study of 353 women who had participated in study of HPV and cervical neoplasia in Costa Rica. We collected paired cervical and vaginal specimens; vaginal specimens were collected from the fornix to minimize cervical contamination. Specimens were tested in a masked fashion for >40 HPV types using a MY09/MY11 PCR method and type-specific dot blot hybridization.

Results: The prevalence for any carcinogenic HPV type in vaginal and cervical specimens was similar (P = 0.3). However, the prevalence for any HPV type in vaginal specimens was greater than in cervical specimens (P = 0.0002), primarily due to a twofold increased vaginal prevalence of HPV types of the alpha3/alpha15 phylogenetic species (e.g., HPV61) (P <0.00005).

Conclusions: Carcinogenic HPV types appeared to have a similar affinity for vaginal and cervical epithelium, but noncarcinogenic HPV types of the alpha3/alpha15 phylogenetic species may have a tropism for vaginal epithelium.

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Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors has commercial or other associations that might pose a conflict of interest. NCI employees are under strict oversight by the NIH ethics office regarding any conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
A graph of the prevalence of cervical and vaginal α3/α15 and α9/α11 HPV types (adapted from reference 13) by age was fit using a cubic regression spline (see Methods) (cervical, square; vaginal, triangle; α3/α15, open symbol; α9/α11, solid symbol).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
An abbreviated version of the phylogenetic analysis (phylogenetic tree) for anogenital HPV types (adapted from reference 13).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Castle PE, Schiffman M, Bratti MC, et al. A population-based study of vaginal human papillomavirus infection in hysterectomized women. J Infect Dis. 2004;190:458–467. - PubMed
    1. Castle PE, Schiffman M, Glass AG, et al. Human papillomavirus prevalence in women who have and have not undergone hysterectomies. J Infect Dis. 2006;194:1702–1705. - PubMed
    1. Winer RL, Lee SK, Hughes JP, et al. Genital human papillomavirus infection: Incidence and risk factors in a cohort of female university students. Am J Epidemiol. 2003;157:218–226. - PubMed
    1. Parkin DM, Bray F. Chapter 2: The burden of HPV-related cancers. Vaccine. 2006;24(suppl 3):S11–S25. - PubMed
    1. Gravitt PE, Lacey JV, Jr, Brinton LA, et al. Evaluation of self-collected cervicovaginal cell samples for human papillomavirus testing by polymerase chain reaction. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2001;10:95–100. - PubMed

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