Original Article
Human Papillomavirus Genotypes Present in the Oral Mucosa of Newborns and their Concordance with Maternal Cervical Human Papillomavirus Genotypes

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2011.10.027Get rights and content

Objectives

To elucidate the concordance of human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes between the mother and her newborn and to identify risk factors for the vertical transmission of HPV.

Study design

HPV genotypes present in 329 pregnant women, their newborns, cord blood, and placenta samples were determined by molecular techniques, including using pure DNA for nested polymerase chain reaction. HPV antibodies were tested using multiplex HPV serology. Kappa statistics and the Wilcoxon test were used to assess concordance, and regression analysis was used to calculate ORs and 95% CIs.

Results

HPV DNA was detected in 17.9% of oral samples from newborns and in 16.4% of the cervical samples of the mothers. At delivery, mother-newborn pairs had similar HPV-genotype profiles, but this concordance disappeared in 2 months. Oral HPV carriage in newborns was most significantly associated with the detection of HPV in the placenta (OR = 14.0; 95% CI, 3.7-52.2; P = .0001). The association between status of the cord blood and oral HPV was also significant at delivery (OR = 4.7; 95% CI, 1.4-15.9; P = .015) but disappeared within 1 month. HPV antibodies in infants were of maternal origin (OR = 68; 95% CI, 20.1-230.9; P = .0001).

Conclusions

HPV is prevalent in oral samples from newborns. The genotype profile of newborns was more restricted than that of the maternal cervical samples. The close maternal-newborn concordance could indicate that an infected mother transmits HPV to her newborn via the placenta or cord blood.

Section snippets

Methods

The Finnish HPV Family Study is a longitudinal cohort study conducted at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Turku University Central Hospital, and the Institute of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland. The study plan was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Turku University Hospital (#3/1998). A total of 329 pregnant women in their third trimester of pregnancy and, later, their newborns (n = 331; includes 2 sets of twins) were enrolled in the study

Results

HPV was detected in 22.5%, 13.0%, 18.7%, and 16.9% of the oral samples from the whole cohort of newborns at delivery, day 3, month 1, and month 2, respectively. At the third trimester, 16.4% of the cervical samples of the mothers were HPV-DNA positive. The point prevalence of the different HPV genotypes is shown in Figure 1. HPV coinfections were detected more frequently than any single HPV genotype in HPV-positive mothers (45.3%) and were the second most common type of infection in

Discussion

The current study reports the genotype concordance between maternal genital HPV infections and the HPV strain carried by infants during the first 2 months of life. HPV DNA was found in 13.0%-22.5% of all oral samples of the infants during the follow-up period. The previous literature on the prevalence of oral HPV DNA in infants is highly controversial.10 The lowest prevalence (0.9%-2.5%) of oral HPV carriage among infants (from delivery up to 1 year of age) was presented by Smith and colleagues,

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    The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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