[Prevalence of human papillomavirus in the pubic hair follicles of healthy men and male patients with genital warts].

OBJECTIVE

Human papillomavirus (HPV) commonly exists in healthy individuals, but its prevalence in the pubic hair follicles is not yet clear, nor is the relationship between HPV infection in the pubic hair follicles and the recurrence of genital warts in men. This study aimed to investigate HPV infection in the pubic hair follicles of healthy men and patients with genital warts, and to look into the correlation of HPV infection with recurrent genital warts.

METHODS

We included in this study 122 healthy men aged 21-80 years and 86 male patients with genital warts aged 24-61 years, detected HPV in their pubic hair follicles by PCR, and made comparative analysis of the data obtained from the two groups.

RESULTS

The positive rate of HPV in the pubic hair follicles of the healthy males was 17.21% (21/122), including 15 cases of HPV6, 4 HPV11, 1 non-HPV6/11 and 1 the mixed type (both HPV6 and HPV11), while that of the genital wart patients was 32.55% (28/86), including 17 cases of HPV6, 7 HPV11, 2 non-HPV6/11 and 2 the mixed type.

CONCLUSION

The incidence of HPV infection is higher in patients with genital warts than in healthy men, while the types of HPV involved are basically the same in the two groups, mainly HPV6 and HPV11.