Observational study of HPV genitalia and oral infection in an unvaccinated population of men who have sex with men infected with HIV in Northwest Spain

Background Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the most common sexual transmitted disease (STD) and a risk factor for penile, oral and anal cancer. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection increases the risk of cancer. While HPV anal infection is well studied in men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM), HPV genitalia and oral infection is less known. Methods This prevalence study of HPV infection in genitalia and oral cavity in HIV-MSM patients included 107 HPV non-vaccinated subjects. HPV-DNA was detected with Anyplex™ II HPV28 method. Participants completed a questionnaire on lifestyle and sexual behavior. Results Median age was 43 years (range 35-54 years); 97 patients were on antiretroviral treatment (ART); 81 (75.7%) had undetectable HIV-RNA; median CD4-lymphocyte count was 746 cell/mm 3 ; 70 (65.4%) participants had a previous STD. HPV was detected in genitalia in 37 (34.6%) subjects; 26 (24.3%) in oral cavity and 12 (11.2%) in both locations. High-risk HPV genotypes were detected in 24 (22.4%) patients in genitalia and 15 (14%) in oral cavity. Conclusions HPV infection is common in unvaccinated HIV-MSM patients. Detectable HIV-RNA was associated with higher HPV prevalence in genitalia. High oncogenic risk HPV genotypes were more common in genitalia than in mouth. Summary text HPV infection is common in HIV infected subjects and it is a risk factor for many types of cancer. Although anal conduct is the most studied location, HPV can also infect genitalia and oral cavity. However, the frequency and distribution of HPV strains is different in both locations.