Human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16, 18, 31, 45 DNA loads and HPV-16 integration in persistent and transient infections in young women

Abstract

Abstract Background HPV burden is a predictor for high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cancer. The natural history of HPV load in young women being recently exposed to HPV is described in this paper. Methods A total of 636 female university students were followed for 2 years. Cervical specimens with HPV-16, -18, -31, or -45 DNA by consensus PCR were further evaluated with type-specific and β-globin real-time PCR assays. Proportional hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) of infection clearance. Generalized estimating equations assessed whether HPV loads was predictive of HPV infection at the subsequent visit. Results HPV loads were consistently higher among women Conclusions The association between HPV load and persistence is not uniform across high-risk genital genotypes. HPV-16 integration was only rarely demonstrated in young women.