Sadat Larijani Mona, Javadi Amir, Fahimzad Alireza, Soleimani Rahim, Tabatabaei Farbod, Nejadeh Amir Houshang, Jamshidi Mahboubeh, Bavand Anahita, Moradi Ladan, Ashrafian Fatemeh, Ramezani Amitis
Clinical Research Department, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.
Virol J. 2025 May 19;22(1):148. doi: 10.1186/s12985-025-02767-x.
Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection in the oral cavity has been shown to be common in the young populations with uncertain consequences. Persistent oral oncogenic HPV infection could lead to oropharyngeal malignancy. HPV transmission from mother to fetus is still under question besides the horizontal routes which seem to be emerging. Although HPV infection is mostly transient in young populations, detecting oral HPV in children might be valuable to understand the prevalence, transmission, and natural history of HPV infections in this age group and determination the role of maternal vaccination against HPV. The present study aimed to determine the oral HPV prevalence and genotyping in Iranian children during first-5-year of life for the first time.
This cross-sectional study was conducted in Pasteur Institute of Iran. Buccal samples of the population ≤ 5 years old and also of a subset of mothers were investigated. DNA extraction was done and Real-Time PCR was performed to characterize HPV infection. The positive samples were re-assessed through hybridization assay.
Totally, 201 children aged from 3 days to 5 years old were enrolled in this study among whom16 children were HPV-positive accounting for 7.9% (n=16) with a higher incidence in the population <1month (27.3%). HPV16 and HPV18 were the most frequent HPV types accounting for 50% and 37.5%, respectively followed by HPV31, HPV35, HPV39 and HPV56. Multiple HPV infections were detected in 7 children among whom HPV16 was dominantly detected (71.4%). In a subgroup of mothers who provided oral samples, the total HPV prevalence was 9.5% and HPV18 was the most frequent type followed by HPV16, HPV82, HPV35 and HPV11. Furthermore, the positive HPV status in mothers led to a significant risk of infection in children (p<0.001; OR=165). HPV genotypes between mothers and offspring did not show full concordance. What is more, a significant difference regarding the type of delivery and HPV positivity in children was observed (p<0.001).
The present research indicates that oral HPV infection is quite common in early ages of Iranian children. Multiple HPV infections and a high prevalence of HPV16 are concerning issues for unknown consequences. Lack of full concordance of HPV types between mothers and offspring highlights the possible routes of horizontal transmission. Detecting oral HPV, especially the oncogenic types, could provide rationales for screening tests and setting policies in the future. Additionally, the obtained results emphasize HPV vaccination programs to reduce the rate of HPV transmission from mothers to children.
口腔人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）感染在年轻人群中很常见，但其后果尚不确定。持续性口腔致癌性HPV感染可能导致口咽恶性肿瘤。除了似乎正在出现的水平传播途径外，HPV从母亲传给胎儿的情况仍存在疑问。尽管HPV感染在年轻人群中大多是短暂的，但检测儿童口腔HPV对于了解该年龄组HPV感染的患病率、传播和自然史以及确定母亲接种HPV疫苗的作用可能具有重要意义。本研究旨在首次确定伊朗5岁以下儿童的口腔HPV患病率和基因分型。
本横断面研究在伊朗巴斯德研究所进行。对年龄≤5岁人群以及部分母亲的颊部样本进行了调查。进行DNA提取并通过实时PCR对HPV感染进行特征分析。对阳性样本通过杂交试验进行重新评估。
本研究共纳入201名年龄在3天至5岁之间的儿童，其中16名儿童HPV呈阳性，占7.9%（n = 16），在<1个月的人群中发病率更高（27.3%）。HPV16和HPV18是最常见的HPV类型，分别占50%和37.5%，其次是HPV31、HPV35、HPV39和HPV56。在7名儿童中检测到多重HPV感染，其中HPV16占主导地位（71.4%）。在提供口腔样本的母亲亚组中，HPV总患病率为9.5%，HPV18是最常见的类型，其次是HPV16、HPV82、HPV35和HPV11。此外，母亲HPV阳性状态导致儿童感染风险显著增加（p<0.001；OR = 165）。母亲和后代之间的HPV基因型并未完全一致。此外，观察到分娩方式与儿童HPV阳性之间存在显著差异（p<0.001）。
本研究表明，口腔HPV感染在伊朗儿童早期相当常见。多重HPV感染和HPV16的高患病率是令人担忧的问题，其后果尚不清楚。母亲和后代之间HPV类型缺乏完全一致性，突出了水平传播的可能途径。检测口腔HPV，尤其是致癌类型，可为未来的筛查试验和制定政策提供依据。此外，所得结果强调了HPV疫苗接种计划以降低HPV从母亲传给儿童的比率。
