Prevalence, genotype distribution and temporal dynamics of human papillomavirus infection in a population in southern Italy

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is considered the most important risk factor for the development of ano-genital region cancer in both women and men. Whereas low-risk genotypes are responsible for cutaneous and genital lesions, high-risk genotypes are associated with ano-genital cancer. The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyse the prevalence, genotype distribution and temporal dynamics of HPV infection in 2312 specimens from 2312 subjects (2149 women and 163 men) who attended the laboratory of molecular biology, UOC Microbiology and Virology, Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria, Policlinico of Bari, Italy. HPV DNA detection and genotyping was performed using a multiplex real-time PCR assay. In all, 1123/2312 subjects (48.57%) resulted positive for HPV DNA. In particular, HPV DNA was detected in (1056) 49.14% of females and (67) 41.10% of males. HPV co-infections were detected in 565 (24.44%) patients. High-risk and low-risk HPV genotypes were detected in 887 (38.37%) and 600 (25.95%) patients, respectively. The most prevalent HPV genotypes were HPV-42 (10.29%), HPV-16 (8.56%), HPV-31 (7.40%) and HPV-53 (7.14%). Statistically significant differences between female and male patients were not detected. Moreover, HPV prevalence remained constant in time while HPV-16, but not HPV-6, 11 and 18, showed a decreasing trend from 2013 (11.24%) to 2016 (6.67%). Other HPV genotypes showed some complex and different patterns. Our data showed an unusually high frequency of HPV-42 and a high prevalence of HPV infection in the patients analysed. Although evidence of a decreasing trend of HPV-16 could be a consequence of anti-HPV vaccination, corroboration from further studies will be needed. Moreover, the small number of studied males and the similarity to females in terms of HPV prevalence suggest that more active HPV screening and anti-HPV vaccination in the male population should be considered important tools to eliminate HPV sexual transmission.