Epidemiology of oral gamma and beta HPV infections in mid-adult women

描述（由申请人提供）：口腔或口咽部的人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）感染导致约25%的头颈部癌症（主要是口咽部）。预计到2020年，人乳头瘤病毒阳性口咽癌的人数将超过宫颈癌。鉴于HPV在口咽癌中的作用，了解口腔HPV感染的流行病学和自然史是显着的。然而，目前这样的数据是有限的，并且几乎仅限于生殖器（α） HPV类型。现有的研究表明，健康个体的口腔HPV患病率很低，但由于对α型HPV的限制，可能低估了HPV感染在口腔中的真实患病率。最近，在健康男性和艾滋病毒阳性男性和女性的口腔中检测到β和γ型HPV，这表明这些HPV属具有更广泛的嗜性。据我们所知，尚未对健康女性口腔样本中存在的γ型和β型HPV进行调查。也没有关于性行为对口腔感染的决定因素的数据。此外，虽然已经假设了γ和β HPV传播的手-口途径，但从未进行过探索。本研究对409名年龄在30至50岁之间的健康女性进行口腔感染的流行病学研究。我们建议有效地利用储存的样本（包括口腔和指甲尖样本）来实现以下目标：1)估计口腔HPV和HPV感染的患病率；2)确定口腔和指甲尖样本的一致性，用于检测HPV类型；3)确定口腔HPV感染的健康和性行为决定因素。我们的研究也有可能鉴定出新的致癌性口腔HPV类型。这项探索性研究的结果可以为口腔中γ和β HPV感染的更大流行病学和自然史研究的发展提供信息，特别是随着我们对这些属在口腔肿瘤发生中的作用的了解的进展。此外，我们的结果将进一步加深我们对HPV嗜性的理解，有可能有助于我们对HPV相关生物学和传播和感染机制的一般理解。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections of the oral cavity or oropharynx cause about 25% of head and neck cancers (mainly oropharyngeal). The number of HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancers is expected to exceed that of cervical cancers by 2020. Given the role of HPV in oropharyngeal cancers, understanding the epidemiology and natural history of oral HPV infections is salient. Currently, however, such data are limited, and have been restricted almost exclusively to genital (alpha) HPV types. Extant studies suggest that oral HPV prevalence in healthy individuals is low, but likely underestimate the true prevalence of HPV infection in the oral cavity due to restriction to alpha HPV types. Recently, beta and gamma HPV types have been detected in the oral cavity of healthy men and HIV-positive men and women, suggesting a broader spectrum of tropism for these HPV genera. To our knowledge, the presence of gamma and beta HPV types has not been investigated in oral cavity samples from healthy women. There are also no data on sexual behavior determinants of gamma or beta infections in the oral cavity. Furthermore, while a hand-to-mouth route for gamma and beta HPV transmission has been postulated, it has never been explored. This proposal addresses the epidemiology of oral gamma and beta HPV infections among 409 healthy women, aged 30 to 50 years old. We propose to make efficient use of stored samples (including oral and fingernail tip samples) to address the following aims: 1) Estimate the prevalence of oral gamma and beta HPV infections; 2) Determine the concordance between oral and fingernail tip samples for detecting gamma and beta HPV types; and 3) Identify health and sexual behavior determinants of oral gamma and beta HPV infections. Our study also has the potential to identify novel oncogenic oral HPV types. The results of this exploratory study could inform the development of larger epidemiologic and natural history studies of gamma and beta HPV infections in the oral cavity, particularly as our knowledge of the role of these genera in oral tumorigenesis advances. Furthermore, our results will further our understanding of HPV tropism, with potential to contribute to our general understanding of HPV-related biology and mechanisms of transmission and infection.