Distribution of human papillomavirus type 16 variants in human immunodeficiency virus type 1-positive and -negative women

The prevalence of human papillomavirus type 16 E6 variant lineages was characterized in a cross-sectional study of 24 human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV)-positive and 33 HIV-negative women in New Orleans. The European prototype was the predominant variant in the HIV-negative women (39(.)4%), while in the HIV-positive women the European 350G variant was predominant (29(.)1%). In exact logistic regression models, HIV-positive women were significantly more likely to harbour any variant with a nucleotide G-350 mutation compared with HIV-negative women [58(.)3% vs 21(.)1%; adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 6(.)28, 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 1(.)19-46(.)54]. Models also revealed a trend towards increased prevalence of Asian-American lineage in HIV-positive women compared with HIV-negative women (25(.)0% vs 6(.)0%; AOR = 6(.)35, 95% CI = 0(.)77-84(.)97). No association was observed between any variant and cytology or CD4 cell counts or HIV-1 viral loads. These observations reflect a difference in the distribution of HPV-16 variants among HIV-positive and -negative women, indicating that HIV-positive status may lead to increased prevalence of a subset of variants.