Prevalence of novel gamma HPV types 223 and 225 in oral cavity and skin of Indian normal and neoplastic participants.

Gamma-papillomaviruses, though traditionally classified as cutaneotropic, actual tissue tropism is largely unexplored. This study aimed to evaluate the tissue-specific prevalence of two novel-HPV 223 and 225 in samples of oral mucosa and keratinized epithelium of varied skin parts from 226 female and male subjects, with or without neoplastic/dysplastic lesions in oral cavity or cervix. The gamma-human papillomavirus (gamma-HPV) 223 and 225 DNA presences were determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) ursing the HPV type-specific primers and confirmed by Sanger sequencing. Viral load in the HPV 223 and HPV 225 positive samples were determined by absolute real-time quantification method. Alpha-HPV DNA prevalence was also checked in oral mucosa to ascertain coinfection status. Novel HPV 223 was present in 4.4% (10/226) oral mucosal samples of the study population; interestingly all were females with no prevalence in their corresponding skin swab samples. Whereas, the prevalence of HPV 225 was found both in the skin and oral mucosa of 28.2% (N = 37/131) female and 17.9% (N = 17/95) male participants. Alongside, HPV 223 viral load was found to be significantly higher (p = 0.02 < 0.05) in the oral mucosa of diseased participants, whereas, HPV 225 viral load was higher in the oral mucosa of normal participants. Our results suggest that gamma-HPV 223 has its prevalence only in the oral mucosal epithelium, whereas, HPV 225 has its prevalence on both mucosal and keratinized skin epithelium, indicating its dual tropism nature.

Prevalence of human papillomavirus in women without cervical cancer: a population-based study in Eastern India.

Despite the high incidence of cervical cancer, population-based data on prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) are limited in India. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of any HPV type and type-specific prevalence of HPV 16/18 in women without cervical cancer. HPV viral load was measured and correlated with cytologic abnormalities of the cervix. A total of 2501 women between 25 and 65 years of age and without cervical cancer were screened by pap smear cytology. HPV DNA was detected from cervical scrapes by nested polymerase chain reaction. Detection of HPV 16/18 was carried out by polymerase chain reaction using type-specific primers and was confirmed by Southern hybridization. Viral load was determined by absolute real-time polymerase chain reaction. Population prevalence of any HPV was found to be 9.9%. The risk of HPV infection was higher in women aged 25 to 34 years (odds ratio, 1.11), in married women below 20 years of age (odds ratio, 1.80), and in women with parity ≥4 (odds ratio, 1.04). Prevalence of HPV 18 (1.4%) was greater than that of HPV 16 (0.6%) in the overall screened population. High-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion cytology was more frequent in women infected with HPV 16 than in those infected with HPV 18 and other types. A gradual increase in HPV copy numbers was associated with progressive cytologic severity. In this study, HPV prevalence is comparable to HPV prevalence reported by other studies among Indian and Asian women. Although the prevalence of HPV 18 was more than that of HPV 16, type 16 infection was associated with higher oncogenicity.

Clearance of cervical human papillomavirus infection by topical application of curcumin and curcumin containing polyherbal cream: a phase II randomized controlled study.

Curcumin and curcumin containing polyherbal preparations have demonstrated anti-microbial and anti- viral properties in pre-clinical studies. Till date no therapeutic intervention has been proved to be effective and safe in clearing established cervical human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. The present study evaluated the efficacy of Basant polyherbal vaginal cream (containing extracts of curcumin, reetha, amla and aloe vera) and of curcumin vaginal capsules to eliminate HPV infection from cervix. Women were screened by Pap smear and HPV DNA test by PCR. HPV positive women without high grade cervical neoplasias (N=287) were randomized to four intervention arms to be treated with vaginal Basant cream, vaginal placebo cream, curcumin vaginal capsules and placebo vaginal capsules respectively. All subjects were instructed to use one application of the assigned formulation daily for 30 consecutive days except during menstruation and recalled within seven days of the last application for repeat HPV test, cytology and colposcopy. HPV clearance rate in Basant arm (87.7%) was significantly higher than the combined placebo arms (73.3%). Curcumin caused higher rate of clearance (81.3%) than placebo though the difference was not statistically significant. Vaginal irritation and itching, mostly mild to moderate, was significantly higher after Basant application. No serious adverse events were noted.