Human Papillomavirus (HPV) genotype 18 variants in patients with clinical manifestations of HPV related infections in Bilbao, Spain

Background:Human papillomavirus (HPV) variants differ in their biological and chemical properties, and therefore, may present differences in pathogenicity. Most authors classified variants based on the phylogenetic analysis of L1 region. Nevertheless, recombination in HPV samples is becoming a usual finding and thus, characterizing genetic variability in other regions should be essential. Objectives:We aimed to characterize the genetic variability of HPV 18 in 5 genomic regions: E6, E7, E4, L1 and the Upstream Regulatory Region (URR), working with both single infection and multiple HPV infection samples. Furthermore, we aimed to assess the prevalence of HPV 18 variants in our region and look for possible existence of recombination as well as analyze the relationship between these variants and the type of lesion. Methods: From 2007 to 2010, Clinical Microbiology and Infection Control Department analyzed 44 samples which were positive for HPV 18. Genetic variability was determined in PCR products and variants were assigned to European, Asian-amerindian or African lineage. Recombination and association of variants with different types of lesion was studied. Results: Genetic analysis of the regions revealed a total of 56 nucleotide variations. European, African and Asian-amerindian variants were found in 25/44 (56.8%), 10/44 (22.7%) and 5/44 (11.4%) samples, respectively. We detected the presence of recombinant variants in 2/44 (4.5%) cases. Samples taken from high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (H-SIL) only presented variants with specific-african substitutions. Conclusions: Multiple HPV infection, non-european HPV variants prevalence and existence of recombination are considered risk factors for HPV persistence and progression of intraepithelial abnormalities, and therefore, should be taken into consideration in order to help to design and optimize diagnostics protocols as well as improve epidemiologic studies. Our study is one of the few studies in Spain which analyses the genetic variability of HPV18 and we showed the importance of characterizing more than one genomic region in order to detect recombination and classify HPV variants properly

Vacunas profilácticas frente al VPH

Actualmente sólo existen dos vacunas disponibles para la prevención primaria frente al virus del papiloma humano, Gardasil® y Cervarix®. Ambas vacunas ofrecen una alta protección contra los genotipos 16 y 18 del papillomavirus, que son los responsables de más del 70% de los cánceres de cérvix, segunda causa de mortalidad por cáncer a nivel mundial en mujeres. Además, Gardasil®, ofrece una protección del 99% para las mujeres y del 89,4% para los hombre, frente a los genotipos 6 y 11 del virus, responsables del 90% de las verrugas genitales. Uno de los principales obstáculos para su uso generalizado es su elevado coste, por ello, los ensayos clínicos se dirigen a conseguir una inmunogenicidad eficaz con el menor número de dosis. Cervarix® se comercializa en Europa con una pauta de dos dosis en niñas de 9 a 14 años, con una inmunogenicidad de 48 meses. Gardasil® ha sido autorizada para su comercialización para una pauta de dos dosis en niñas/os de 9 a 13 años, con una imunogenicidad de 36 meses. Ambas vacunas han despertado una gran controversia en los últimos tiempos, por este motivo se están realizando continuos estudios de control que, hasta la fecha, avalan su seguridad. La falta de información sobre las vacunas, los escasos programas de sensibilización y las dudas sobre su seguridad han dificultado su aceptación. El papel de la enfermera es clave en este aspecto para fomentar la vacunación, a través de actividades dirigidas hacía la promoción y prevención frente al virus del papiloma humano.

Lipid Nanoparticles as Carriers for RNAi against Viral Infections: Current Status and Future Perspectives

The efforts made to develop RNAi-based therapies have led to productive research in the field of infections in humans, such as hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), herpetic keratitis, human papillomavirus, or influenza virus. Naked RNAi molecules are rapidly digested by nucleases in the serum, and due to their negative surface charge, entry into the cell cytoplasm is also hampered, which makes necessary the use of delivery systems to exploit the full potential of RNAi therapeutics. Lipid nanoparticles (LNP) represent one of the most widely used delivery systems for in vivo application of RNAi due to their relative safety and simplicity of production, joint with the enhanced payload and protection of encapsulated RNAs. Moreover, LNP may be functionalized to reach target cells, and they may be used to combine RNAi molecules with conventional drug substances to reduce resistance or improve efficiency. This review features the current application of LNP in RNAi mediated therapy against viral infections and aims to explore possible future lines of action in this field.

Novel Papillomaviruses in Free-Ranging Iberian Bats: No Virus-Host Co-evolution, No Strict Host Specificity, and Hints for Recombination

Papillomaviruses (PVs) are widespread pathogens. However, the extent of PV infections in bats remains largely unknown. This work represents the first comprehensive study of PVs in Iberian bats. We identified four novel PVs in the mucosa of free-ranging Eptesicus serotinus (EserPV1, EserPV2, and EserPV3) and Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (RferPV1) individuals and analyzed their phylogenetic relationships within the viral family. We further assessed their prevalence in different populations of E. serotinus and its close relative E. isabellinus. Although it is frequent to read that PVs co-evolve with their host, that PVs are highly species-specific, and that PVs do not usually recombine, our results suggest otherwise. First, strict virus-host co-evolution is rejected by the existence of five, distantly related bat PV lineages and by the lack of congruence between bats and bat PVs phylogenies. Second, the ability of EserPV2 and EserPV3 to infect two different bat species (E. serotinus and E. isabellinus) argues against strict host specificity. Finally, the description of a second noncoding region in the RferPV1 genome reinforces the view of an increased susceptibility to recombination in the E2-L2 genomic region. These findings prompt the question of whether the prevailing paradigms regarding PVs evolution should be reconsidered.

HPV infection, a described cause for human cancer: HPV detection and molecular mechanisms of HPV carcinogenesis (Review).

[en]Human papillomavirus (HPV) belongs to the Papillomaviridae virus family and it is one of the most common sexual transmission infections. HPV genome is composed of eight genes, including two early genes and six late genes. Among these late genes, E6 and E7 code for proteins that trigger cell-cycle re-entry in infected cells, which can lead to cervical cancer development. The IARC (International Agency for Research Cancer) proposed a guideline based on Hill’s criteria to determine whether the relation between HPV infection and cervical cancer is causal or not. Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that HPV infection is a necessary but non-sufficient cause for cervical cancer. Furthermore, HPV infection is considered the first necessary cause described of a human cancer, being HPV16 and 18 carcinogenic to humans and the most studied types. Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women worldwide. Different screening programs are carried out with the aim of preventing cervical cancer; such as cytologies and HPV tests. There are two main methods which are equally usable to detect HPV: the real-time PCR assays and the array assays. Regarding the molecular mechanisms of HPV mediated malignancies, E2, E6 and E7 proteins of HPV16 lead to immune response evasion, inducing IL-10 and TGF-β1 gene expression. Besides, E6 and E7 proteins allow cell-cycle reentry, phosphorylating RB and ubiquitinating p53 respectively. HPV genome integration in host genome leads to the alteration of host and viral genes expression, including oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. However, the differences of E6 and E7 oncoproteins in different HPV types is poorly known due to the fact that almost the most studied HPV type has been HPV16.