Oral Inflammation and Human Papilloma Virus Association among Hispanics.

ABSTRACT

Background: Identifying factors related to persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is essential to reduce the incidence of HPV-related cancers. Objective: To evaluate whether gingival/periodontal inflammation is associated with oral HPV infection. Methods: This cross-sectional study (n = 740) uses data from the follow-up visit of the San Juan Overweight Adults Longitudinal Study, which recruited overweight/obese adults aged 40-65 from Puerto Rico. Participants completed a dental examination and two interviews (face-to-face/ACASI) and provided oral rinse samples for HPV detection. Oral inflammation was assessed using two definitions (1) the number of sites with bleeding on probing (BOP), and (2) the number of teeth with probing pocket depths (PPD) ≥ 4 mm and BOP. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the association between oral inflammation and oral HPV. Results: Nearly three-quarters (72%) of participants were female, and 68% had 50 years or older. Participants with HPV had a higher mean number of sites with BOP (15.5 vs. 10.1) and teeth with PPD ≥ 4 mm and BOP (8.5 vs. 3.2) than participants without HPV (p < 0.05). After adjusting for sex, age, income, and the number of oral sex partners, the odds of having an oral HPV infection increased by 3% (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.00-1.06) for any additional sites with BOP and 5% (95% CI 1.02-1.09) for any other teeth with PPD ≥ 4 mm and BOP. Conclusions: We found that oral inflammation was associated with oral HPV infection among adults in Puerto Rico. Future studies need to further investigate the underlying mechanisms.