Abstract
BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a necessary cause for cervical cancer, but the majority of genital HPV infections clear spontaneously. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) polymorphism influences immune response and genetic susceptibility, and its association with cervical cancer was extensively investigated, but few reports focused on HPV infection. METHODS: We performed molecular typing of HLA-A, -B, -DQB1, and -DRB1 genes as well as of HPV in 1226 women enrolled in the Ludwig-McGill cohort study and investigated the influence on cumulative HPV positivity. HPV types were grouped according to Alphapapillomavirus subgenera that exhibit similar tissue tropism and biological behavior concerning cancer risk. The associations between HLA polymorphisms and HPV infections were estimated using unconditional logistic regression analysis adjusted for age and race. RESULTS: HLA-B*08 and HLA-DRB1*15:01 were negatively associated with HPV positivity, and similar effects were observed for HPV Subgenus 2 only, which includes HPV16. HLA-DRB1*08:07 was associated with overall HPV infection and Subgenus 2 positivity. The haplotypes HLA-B*08-DRB1*03:01-DQB1*02:01 and HLA-DRB1*08:07-DQB1*04:02 were negatively and positively associated with cumulative HPV positivity, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that HLA class I and II polymorphism can influence HPV natural infection.