Prevalence of Human Papillomavirus Genotypes in Patients with Genital Warts in Gorgan, Iran

Low-risk and high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes are the main cause of anogenital warts. The present study aimed to determine prevalence of HPV genotypes in patients with anogenital warts in Gorgan, northeast of Iran.

In this cross-sectional study, 40 biopsy samples were taken from patients with anogenital warts in Gorgan, Iran. After DNA extraction, multiplex polymerase chain reaction was carried out for detecting HPV genotypes 54, 18, 16 and 6. Demographic characteristics of subjects including gender, age, education level, marital status, smoking and method of contraception were also collected. Data were analyzed in SPSS 16 software at statistical significance of 0.05.

The mean age of male and female patients was 31.81±6.9 and 27.95±6.92 years, respectively. The frequency of HPV-6, HPV-16 and HPV-54 was 77%, 15% and 7.5%, respectively. In addition, HPV-18 was not detected in the collected specimens. Co-infection of HPV-54 with HPV-6 and HPV-16 was also observed in some cases. No significant association was found between HPV infection and age, gender, smocking, contraceptive method and education level.

Similar to previous studies in Iran and other countries, HPV type 6 is the predominant cause of genital warts in Gorgan, Iran. Further studies with a larger study population are needed to explore the role of other contributors to HPV-induced genital warts.