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. 2022 Jul 27:2022:1372926.
doi: 10.1155/2022/1372926. eCollection 2022.

Age-Stratified Analysis of Vaginal Microbiota Dysbiosis and the Relationship with HPV Viral Load in HPV-Positive Women

Mingzhu Li  1 , Chao Zhao  1 , Yun Zhao  1 , Jingran Li  1 , Lihui Wei  1
Affiliations

Age-Stratified Analysis of Vaginal Microbiota Dysbiosis and the Relationship with HPV Viral Load in HPV-Positive Women

Mingzhu Li et al. J Immunol Res. .

Abstract

Objective: This study evaluated the distribution of vaginal microbiota dysbiosis and the association with HPV viral load test in high-risk HPV-positive women before and after 50 years old.

Methods: For this cross-sectional study, 388 HPV-positive women prior to referral to colposcopy in Peking University Peoples' Hospital were included and classified as younger than 50 years (n = 307) and aged 50 years or older (n = 81), midvagina bacterial community composition was characterized by FlashDetect™ MAX vaginal microbe detection kit, and BMRT-HPV reported type-specific viral loads/10,000 cells.

Results: The community state type (CST) IV was the most common CST occurring in 148 women (38.1%). The proportion of CST IV in those aged 50 years or older was significantly higher than those younger than 50 years (women) (66.7% vs. 30.6%); the difference was statistically significant (<0.001). CST distribution has no statistical difference in different grades of cervical lesion, regardless of the age (p = 0.238 and 0.263). However, the women with high-grade cervical lesion presented a more complicated trend and the abundance of vaginal microbiota dysbiosis than low-grade lesion. HPV16/18 viral load was found to be significantly higher in CST III and CST IV than CST I/II/V (p < 0.05)in women younger than 50 years.

Conclusions: In women younger than 50 years, higher HPV16/18 load was more closely associated with CST IV; however, it had no significant correlation in women aged 50 years or older.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no relevant financial or nonfinancial interests to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Vaginal microbiome composition according to age, HPV status, cervical lesion, and vaginal community state types.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Average relative abundances of the 10 prevalent genera in vaginal microbiota in different degree of cervical lesion of different age. Note: ≥HSIL including histopathologically confirmed HSIL/CIN2, HSIL/CIN3, SCC, and AIS; ≤LSIL including histopathologically confirmed LSIL/CIN1 and normal.
Figure 3
Figure 3
HPV viral load for different vaginal CSTs. (a) hrHPV load < 50 years old; (b) HPV16/18 load < 50 years old; (c) hrHPV load ≥ 50 years old; (d) HPV16/18 load ≥ 50 years old.
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