Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jul-Sep;24(3):188-197.
doi: 10.18502/jri.v24i3.13275.

Increased Risk of Infertility in Women Infected with Human Papillomavirus

Parastou Heidari Pebdeni  1 , Fereshteh Saffari  2 , Hamid Reza Mollaei  2 , Toraj Reza Mirshekari  3 , Robabeh Hosseini Sadat  4 , Victoria Habibzadeh  4 , Lida Saeed  4 , Moslem Taheri Soodejani  5 , Roya Ahmadrajabi  6
Affiliations

Increased Risk of Infertility in Women Infected with Human Papillomavirus

Parastou Heidari Pebdeni et al. J Reprod Infertil. 2023 Jul-Sep.

Abstract

Background: Among several causes of infertility, urogenital infections seem to be influencing factors. The effect of bacterial or viral sexually transmitted infections (STIs) on human fertility is not well understood. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of STIs in cervical samples of infertile and fertile women and study the relationship between these agents and infertility.

Methods: In this case-control study, cytobrush was used for collecting of cervical sample from each infertile and fertile woman (n=95) who attended Research and Clinical Centers for Infertility in Kerman, Iran. PCR and real-time PCR methods were used to detect the presence of bacterial (genital Ureaplasma species, genital Mycoplasma species, Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis), and Gardnerella vaginalis) and viral (herpes simplex virus, human papillomavirus (HPV), and Epstein-Barr virus) agents, respectively. Fisher's exact test and the logistic regression with the significance level of ≤5% were used for statistical analyses.

Results: In general, 78.94% and 14.73% of specimens were positive for one or more studied microorganisms, respectively. Among studied agents, only the infection with HPV was significantly different between infertile and fertile groups (p=0.005) which may enhance the likelihood of female infertility (OR=5.30, 95% CI:1.47-19.11, p< 0.05). After adjusting for age, irregular menstrual cycle, abnormal vaginal discharge, and ectopic pregnancy, the odds ratio of infertility in HPV-infected women increased (OR=7.02, 95% CI:1.52-32.3, p<0.05).

Conclusion: Since HPV infection is asymptomatic, periodic screening of women in reproductive age especially infertile couples is recommended for early diagnosis and prevention of infection progression and cross contamination.

Keywords: Female; Infertility; Iran; Sexually transmitted infections.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

References

    1. Ruggeri M, Cannas S, Cubeddu M, Molicotti P, Piras GL, Dessole S, et al. Bacterial agents as a cause of infertility in humans. New Microbiol. 2016;39 (3):206–9. - PubMed
    1. Naz MS, Ozgoli G, Sayehmiri K. Prevalence of infertility in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Urol J. 2020;17(4):338–45. - PubMed
    1. Janghorban R, Azarkish F. An overview on sexually transmitted infections in Iran. Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol. 2016;5(3):585–95.
    1. Mwatelah R, McKinnon LR, Baxter C, Abdool Karim Q, Abdool Karim SS. Mechanisms of sexually transmitted infection-induced inflammation in women: implications for HIV risk. J Int AIDS Soc. 2019;22(Suppl 6):e25346. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tsevat DG, Wiesenfeld HC, Parks C, Peipert JF. Sexually transmitted diseases and infertility. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2017;216(1):1–9. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources