Silva Jéssica Boscariol da, Silva Aline Oliveira, Sacoman Luciana Reis Rosa, Matos Leandro Luongo, Frizzarini Ronaldo, Moyses Raquel Ajub, Levi José Eduardo
Tropical Medicine Institute, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Head and Neck Surgery Department, Laboratório de Investigação Médica 28 (LIM28), Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Einstein (Sao Paulo). 2025 Jun 16;23:eAO1715. doi: 10.31744/einstein_journal/2025AO1715. eCollection 2025.
This study aimed to determine the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 infection in the tonsils of patients without cancer and to analyze the associated risk factors in a low-risk population in Brazil.
The study included 113 adult patients who underwent surgery for non-neoplastic conditions. The participants completed an interview-based questionnaire on lifestyle habits, including the use of tobacco and alcohol, and a questionnaire on sexual behavior. Overall, 226 freshly frozen tonsil samples were subjected to DNA extraction, conventional polymerase chain reaction using the PGMY09/11 primer for β-globin, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction for HPV16 detection.
In this cohort, 47 patients (41.6%) were women between 18 and 58 years of age (mean age, 28.5 years), and 66 (58.4%) were men between 18 and 68 years of age (mean age, 34 years). A total of 81 (71.7%) and 46 (40.7%) patients answered questionnaires on lifestyle habits and sexual behavior, respectively. All samples successfully amplified the β-globin gene fragment but tested negative for HPV DNA. This outcome precluded an investigation of the association between risk factors such as sexual behavior and HPV infection. External validation using oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma specimens confirmed the reliability of the laboratory procedures to detect HPV DNA, showing a 10% prevalence of HPV infection in the comparator population.
The findings of this study suggest that the actual prevalence of HPV16 tonsillar infection in the general population without cancer may be lower than that previously reported in Brazil.
本研究旨在确定无癌症患者扁桃体中人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）16感染的患病率，并分析巴西低风险人群中的相关危险因素。
该研究纳入了113例因非肿瘤性疾病接受手术的成年患者。参与者完成了一份关于生活习惯（包括烟草和酒精使用情况）的访谈式问卷以及一份关于性行为的问卷。总体而言，对226份新鲜冷冻的扁桃体样本进行了DNA提取、使用PGMY09/11引物进行β-珠蛋白的常规聚合酶链反应以及用于HPV16检测的定量聚合酶链反应。
在该队列中，47例患者（41.6%）为18至58岁的女性（平均年龄28.5岁），66例（58.4%）为18至68岁的男性（平均年龄34岁）。分别有81例（71.7%）和46例（40.7%）患者回答了关于生活习惯和性行为的问卷。所有样本均成功扩增出β-珠蛋白基因片段，但HPV DNA检测均为阴性。这一结果使得无法对性行为等危险因素与HPV感染之间的关联进行调查。使用口咽鳞状细胞癌标本进行的外部验证证实了检测HPV DNA的实验室程序的可靠性，在对照人群中显示HPV感染患病率为10%。
本研究结果表明，在无癌症的普通人群中，HPV16扁桃体感染的实际患病率可能低于巴西此前报告的患病率。
