You are here

Article Text

Article menu

Download PDFPDF

Poster Presentations
PS02 – POSTER VIEWING SESSION – TUESDAY
Tuesday, July 16, 2019 5:45 PM – 7:00 PM
P838 Associations of the vaginal microbiota with HPV infection and cervical dysplasia in south african women living with HIV
Free
  1. Janneke Van De Wijgert1,
  2. Allessandra Gill1,
  3. Alistair Darby1,
  4. Helen Kelly2,
  5. Admire Chikandiwa3,
  6. Sinead Delany-Moretlwe4,
  7. Marijn Verwijs5,
  8. Suzanna Francis6,
  9. Philippe Mayaud6
  1. 1University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
  2. 2London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
  3. 3Wits RHI, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
  4. 4University of the Witwatersrand, Wits RHI, Johannesburg, South Africa
  5. 5University of Liverpool, Institute of Infection and Global Health, Liverpool, UK
  6. 6London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

Abstract

Background Fifteen longitudinal studies have shown associations between bacterial vaginosis and high risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) acquisition and/or persistence, and/or cervical dysplasia. However, few studies assessed the vaginal microbiota (VMB) comprehensively, and none controlled the dysplasia association for persistent hrHPV.

Methods 623 women attending HIV outpatient clinics in Johannesburg, South Africa, were examined for hrHPV (InnoLipA HPV Genotyping Extra Assay), cervical dysplasia (histology), and vaginal microbiota (VMB; V3-V4 Illumina HiSeq 2x300bp with Swarm OTU-picking) at baseline and endline, a median of 16 months after baseline. VMB research questions were addressed in two nested case-control designs.

Results Hierarchical clustering resulted in seven VMB types: L. iners-dominated (Li; n=214 samples), Lactobacillus crispatus or L. jensenii-dominated (Lcj; n=68), Bifidobacterium-dominated (BD; n=2), lactobacilli + bacterial vaginosis (BV)-anaerobes (L+A; n=208), BV-like (BV; n=303); BV-anaerobe dominated (AD; n=56); and pathobiont-characterised (PB; n=19). Women with new or persistent hrHPV during follow-up were less likely to have an Lcj VMB type (compared to Li) at endline, and persistent hrHPV was associated with vaginal anaerobic dysbiosis at baseline (decreased lactobacilli, increased BV-anaerobes, and increased Nugent score). Women who developed CIN2+, compared to women with persistent hrHPV but no CIN2+, were more likely to have vaginal anaerobic dysbiosis at endline (decreased lactobacilli, increased BV-anaerobes, and increased diversity), but not at baseline. These associations persisted after controlling for age, hormonal contraception, and CD4+ count; several additional potential confounders (HIV plasma viral load, antiretroviral therapy, sexually transmitted infections, sexual risk-taking, among others) were evaluated.

Conclusion Frequent hrHPV exposure (and/or increased sexual risk-taking) likely causes vaginal dysbiosis, but a bilateral relationship cannot be ruled out. Women with vaginal dysbiosis are not at increased risk of CIN2+ development when hrHPV status is taken into account, but vaginal dysbiosis does develop when CIN2+ lesions develop. These results should be confirmed in even larger longitudinal studies.

Disclosure No significant relationships.

  • HPV

https://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2019-sti.883

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.