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Multicenter Study
. 2008 Jul;159(1):113-9.
doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2133.2008.08627.x. Epub 2008 Jul 1.

Beta-papillomaviruses and psoriasis: an intra-patient comparison of human papillomavirus carriage in skin and hair

J G Cronin  1 , D Mesher, K Purdie, H Evans, J Breuer, C A Harwood, J M McGregor, C M Proby
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Beta-papillomaviruses and psoriasis: an intra-patient comparison of human papillomavirus carriage in skin and hair

J G Cronin et al. Br J Dermatol. 2008 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) of the beta genus (beta-PV), especially HPV5 and HPV36, are proposed to play a pathogenic role in psoriasis, but many previous studies have failed to control for potential confounders, including treatment.

Objectives: To re-examine the relationship between beta-PV and psoriasis addressing limitations present in previous studies and analyse intra-patient concordance for carriage of HPV.

Methods: Plucked eyebrow hairs and forearm skin scrapes were collected from 20 newly diagnosed, previously untreated adult patients with psoriasis and 23 normal controls. A combination of type-specific and degenerate polymerase chain reaction methods was used to achieve comprehensive HPV DNA detection.

Results: The prevalence of HPV in hair and skin from psoriasis patients was higher than in controls (83.3% vs. 46.7%, respectively, P < 0.03 corrected for age and clustering). HPV5 or HPV36 were not over-represented. The profile of diverse beta-PV types was comparable in the two groups. Intra-patient concordance for HPV DNA at separate sites was high (P < 0.00001).

Conclusions: Our data do not support a specific causal role for HPV5 or HPV36 in psoriasis, but suggest that psoriatic skin may be more permissive for viral presence than normal skin. High intra-patient concordance for specific HPV types at separate sites, together with the ubiquity of HPV DNA in normal human skin, suggests that an individual becomes colonized with a particular beta-PV profile presumably to the exclusion of other types. To what extent this HPV profile is then causal in the subsequent development of hyperproliferative skin disease is unknown.

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