Acta Tropica 117 (2011) 202–206 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Acta Tropica journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/actatropica Prevalence and genotype characterization of Human Papillomaviruses among HIV-seropositive in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso F.W. Djigma a,b , C. Ouédraogo b , D.S. Karou a,c,∗ , T. Sagna a,b , C. Bisseye a,b , M. Zeba a,b , D. Ouermi a,b , C. Gnoula a,b , V. Pietra a,d , N.W. Ghilat-Avoid-Belem a , K. Sanogo a , J. Sempore a , S. Pignatelli a , A.M. Ferri e , J.-B. Nikiema a,b , J. Simpore a,b a Centre de Recherche Biomoléculaire “Pietro Annigoni”, CERBA/LABIOGENE, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso b Unité de Formation et de Recherche en Sciences de la Vie et de la Terre (UFR/SVT), Université de Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso c Ecole Supérieure des Techniques Biologiques et Alimentaires (ESTBA-UL), Université de Lomé, Togo d Infectious and Tropical Diseases, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy e Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy article info Article history: Received 5 October 2010 Received in revised form 6 December 2010 Accepted 7 December 2010 Available online 15 December 2010 Keywords: HPV HIV/AIDS Genotypes Burkina Faso abstract Background: Approximately, 15–20 of 40 HPVs that infect the female genital tract confer a high-risk of invasive cancer, thus HPVs account for 95% of cervix cancers. The objectives of this study were to: (i) estimate the prevalence of HPV infection in women infected with HIV in Ouagadougou, (ii) identify potential carcinogenic HPV strains and (iii) determine whether existing HPV vaccines match the isolated strains. Methods: From May 2009 to April 2010, 250 HIV-infected women were included in this study. Each woman was screened for the presence of HPV and for HPV genotype using PCR/hybridization technique. Results: Of the 250 HIV-infected women, 59.6% were infected with at least one type of HPV. High-risk HPVs were identified with the following prevalence: HPV-18 (25.0%); HPV-50 ′ S (25.5%); HPV-30 ′ S (20.8%); HPV-16 (4.7%); HPV-45 (3.7%). Low-risk HPVs were represented by HPV-6 (5.7%) and HPV-11 (0.9%). Conclusion: The issue of the study showed that the existing vaccines: Gardasil and Cervarix may be used in the country although they match only HPV-16, HPV-18, HPV-6 and HPV-11. Further investigations should be continued for the establishment of vaccine that matches all genotypes circulating in the country. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The Human Papillomaviruses (HPVs) are DNA viruses. There are more than one hundred different types and more than forty have a tropism for anogenital mucosa (Schiffman and Castle, 2003). HPVs are the most common viruses sexually transmitted. They are responsible for cancer, mainly cervix cancer, genital warts and other warts (Walboomers et al., 1999; Smith-McCune et al., 2010). They have narrow host specificity and they affect the squamous epithelium, rarely the cylindrical epithelium of the cutaneous tis- sue. Those referred to as high-risk are responsible for cervix cancers, anus and vulva (Wang et al., 2010; Mu ˜ noz et al., 2003); those referred to as low-risk are involved in genital warts and, rarely in some condylomatous flat lesions. HPVs targets are the basal cells. In the cervix, their penetration occurs at the squamocylindrical junction made of single layer basal ∗ Corresponding author at: Centre de Recherche Biomoléculaire Pietro Annigoni CERBA/LABIOGENE, 01 BP 364 Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso. E-mail address: simplicekarou@hotmail.com (D.S. Karou). cells. During their migration into the upper layers, the infected daughter cells continue their squamous differentiation that deter- mines the end of the viral replication cycle. Mature viruses are released at the surface and may spread within the same epithe- lium or be transmitted through sexual contact (Kadaja et al., 2009). The infection can evolve in two modes: clearance or persistence. Most HPV infections develop in clearance mode, especially among young people under 30 years, although some infections, particu- larly HPV-16, tend to develop in persistence mode after this age (Schiffman and Castle, 2003). HPV viruses are uncultivable but they are detectable by molecular biology techniques with “hybrid cap- ture” by RNA probes or PCR. Factors favouring infections with HPV are: early sexual activity, multiple sexual partners, immune system decline due to HIV, smok- ing, prolonged oral contraception, associated sexually transmitted infections, and poorer socio-economic conditions (Hibbitts et al., 2006). The importance of the viral load and persistence of onco- genic viruses are factors for progression to precancerous lesions and cervix cancer (Kim et al., 2008). Among women, cervix can- cer is the second most common cancer worldwide and the first in Sub-Saharan Africa. HIV-positive women with cervical carci- 0001-706X/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2010.12.007