Seroprevalence of cutaneous human papillomaviruses (HPVs) among men in the multinational HPV Infection in Men study

Abstract

Data on cutaneous human papillomavirus (HPV) seroprevalence are primarily derived from skin cancer case-control studies. Few studies have reported the seroprevalence of cutaneous HPV among healthy men. This study investigated the seroprevalence of cutaneous HPV types and associated risk factors among men residing in Brazil, Mexico and the USA. Six hundred men were randomly selected from the HPV Infection in Men study. Archived serum specimens were tested for antibodies against 14 cutaneous HPV genotypes, β-HPV types (5/8/12/14/17/22/23/24/38/48), α-HPV 27, γ-HPV 4, µ-HPV1 and ν-HPV 41 using a glutathione S-transferase L1-based multiplex serology assay. Risk factor data were collected by a questionnaire. Binomial proportions were used to estimate seroprevalence, and logistic regression to examine factors associated with seropositivity. Overall, 65.4 % of men were seropositive to ≥1 of the 14 cutaneous HPV types, and 39.0 % were positive for ≥1 β-HPV types. Seroprevalence was 8.9, 30.9, 28.6 and 9.4 % for α-HPV 27, γ-HPV 4, µ-HPV 1 and ν-HPV 41, respectively. In multivariate analyses, seropositivity for any cutaneous HPV type was associated with higher education [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.75; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.08-2.83], and seropositivity of any β-HPV type was significantly associated with increasing age (AOR 1.72; 95 % CI 1.12-2.63, for men aged 31-44 years vs men aged 18-30 years). Other factors associated with various type-specific cutaneous HPV seropositivity included country, circumcision and lifetime number of male sexual partners. These data indicate that exposure to cutaneous HPV is common. Future studies are needed to assess the role of cutaneous HPV in diseases.

Fig. 1.

(a) Seropositivity for zero, one, two and three or more cutaneous HPV types by country. If a person was negative for all 14 genotypes, he was categorized in the seropositivity in the ‘0 HPV’ group. If a person was positive for only one genotype, he was categorized in the seropositivity to ‘1 HPV’ group; if he was positive for two genotypes, he was categorized in the ‘2 HPV’ group; if he was positive for three or more genotypes, he was categorized in the ‘≥3’ group. The chi-square P value represents differences in each category by country. Distributions of seropositivity to 0, 1, 2 and ≥3 HPV types significantly differed by country in all categories (for each group the overall P value was <0.05). (b) Seropositivity for zero, one, two and three or more β-HPV types by country. If a person was negative for all 10 β genotypes, he was categorized in the seropositivity in the ‘0 β-HPV’ group. If a person was positive for only one β genotype, he was categorized in the seropositivity to ‘1 β-HPV’ group; if he was positive for two β genotypes, he was categorized in the ‘2 β-HPV’ group; if he was positive for three or more β genotypes, he was categorized in the ‘≥ 3 β-HPV’ group. The chi-square P value represents differences in each category by country. Distributions of seropositivity to zero, one, two and three or more β-HPV types significantly differed by country in all categories (for each group the overall P value was <0.05).