Oral Human Papilloma Virus Infection among Dental Clinics

Abstract

Background: Human papilloma viruses (HPV) are small non-enveloped viruses belonging to the Papovaviridae family. HPV types found in the mouth and throat are known as oral HPV. Some types of oral HPV have been implicated in oropharyngeal cancers where they play a major role. HPV infection of the mouth and of the oropharynx like HPV infection of the uterine cervix is associated with high- risk sexual behaviour, in particular oro-genital sex. High-risk HPV genotypes especially HPV-16 is present in many oral and oropharyngeal SCC. This study provides information on prevalence and associated genotypes of oral HPV infection in Nigeria. Methods & Materials: Patients attending dental clinics in Ibadan who consented were recruited for the study. Oral swabs and demographical information were collected from each participant. DNA was extracted from the oral swab samples using commercially available extraction kit by Jena Bioscience (Germany) according to the manufacturer's instruction. The DNA was tested for the presence of HPV by Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification using consensus and genotype specific primers targeting both the L1 and E6/7 gene regions of HPV genome in multiplex PCR assay. Results: Twenty one (9.1%) of the 231 swab samples tested had HPV gene fragment, out of which ten were positive for HPV 16 genotype, 4 for HPV 18 while three were 31 and 33, and one was genotype 39. None of the participants had any sign of oropharyngeal cancer. Conclusion: The result showed that diverse types of HPV genotypes are found in the oral mucosal of patients attending dental clinics in Ibadan, and particularly are types that the available vaccine are not protective against.