Asymptomatic genital infection of human papillomavirus in pregnant women and the vertical transmission route

Abstract

To further investigate the vertical transmission route of human papillomavirus (HPV) and the indication for the choice of mode of delivery, the infective status of 152 asymptomatic pregnant wemen and the maternal-fetal transmission were studied. By using general primers in polymerase chain reaction (GP-PCR) combined with restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, HPV DNA positive rate in cervical secretions and venous blood in asymptomatic pregnant women was 36.21% and 52.78%, respectively, and the identified genotypes were mainly HPV₁₆ and₁₈. The maternal-fetal transmission rate of HPV via genital tract as well as blood was 40.91% and 57. 89%, respectively. It was concluded that besides the transmission route of genital tract and amniotic fluid, there was also transplacental transmission of HPV in utero. Therefore, in our opinion, it is not an absolut indication to perform a cesarean delivery for the pregnant women with HPV asymtomatic genital infection.

Keywords

pregnant women / human papillomavirus / vertical transmission route / polymerase chain reaction

References

[1] ChanP K, LiW II, ChanM Y, et al.. High prevalence of human papillomavirus type 58 in Chinese women with cervical cancer and precancerous lesions. J Med Virol, 1999, 59: 232-232

[2] RiceP S, MantC, CasonJ, et al.. High prevalence of human papillomavirus type 16 infection among children. J Med Virol, 2000, 61: 70-70

[3] TentiP, ZappatoreR, MiglioraP, et al.. Perinatal transmission of human papillomavirus from gravidas with latent infections. Obstet Gynecol, 1999, 93: 475-475

[4] EppelW, WordaG, FrigoP, et al.. Human papillomavirus in the cervix and placenta. Obstet Gynecol, 2000, 96: 337-337

[5] HagenseeM E, SlavinskyJ, GaffgaC M, et al.. Seroprevalence of human papillomavirus type 16 in pregnant women. Obstet Gynecol, 1999, 94: 653-653

[6] MarrisonE A B, GammonM D, GoldbergG L, et al.. Pregnancy and cervical infection with human papillomavirus. Int J Gynecol Obstet, 1996, 54: 124-124

[7] CasonJ. Pernatal acquisition of cervical cancer-associated papillomaviruses. Br J Obstet Gynaecol, 1996, 103: 853-853

[8] SilverbergM J, ThorsenM P, LindebergH, et al.. Condyloma in pregnancy is strongly predictive of juvenile-onset recurrent respiratory papillomatosis. Obstet Gynecol, 2003, 101: 645-645

[9] TsengC J, LinC Y, SoongY K, et al.. Perinatal transmission of human papillomavirus in infants. Relationship between infection rate and mode of delivery. Obstet Gynecol, 1998, 91: 92-92