Objective: To compare the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infections in women who are seropositive and seronegative for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and to determine if associations between HPV and cervical disease are altered in HIV-seropositive women.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 344 HIV-seropositive and 325 HIV-seronegative women underwent colposcopy and HPV DNA testing.
Results: Human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive women were more likely than HIV-seronegative women to have HPV DNA of any type detected (60 versus 36%, P < .001). Infections with HPV type 16 (27 versus 17%, P < .05), type 18 (24 versus 9%, P < .05), and more than one type of HPV (51 versus 26%, P < .05) were also more common in HIV-positive women. Although both latent HPV infection and HPV infections associated with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) were more prevalent in the HIV-seropositive group, the ratio between these two types of infections was altered markedly in the HIV-seropositive women. Human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive women who were HPV-infected were significantly more likely to have CIN than were HPV-infected HIV-seronegative women, an increase observed at all levels of immunosuppression. Analysis of specific HPV types associated with latent HPV infection and CIN indicated that HIV seropositivity only minimally alters the known associations between specific types of HPV and cervical disease.
Conclusion: Human papillomavirus infections are more common among HIV-seropositive women at all levels of immunosuppression. However, relationships between HIV and HPV are complex and cannot be explained completely by an increased susceptibility to new HPV infections in the immunosuppressed patient.