Detection and typing of human papillomaviruses by means of polymerase chain reaction and fragment length polymorphism in male genital lesions.

We investigated the distribution of genital human papillomaviruses (HPVs) among 171 consenting men of which four were involved twice in this study. The DNA was obtained from 7 normal tissues and 168 genital lesions of which 115 were diagnosed as condylomata acuminata, 17 as condylomata plana and 36 as HPV-associated lesions (papules, lichen-like lesions, etc.). The DNA samples were analysed for the presence and type of HPV DNA (HPV type 6, 11, 16, 18, 31 or 33) by means of polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Out of 175 specimens tested, 140 (80%) were HPV positive and 35 (20%) HPV negative. There were 81.43% (114 out of 140) typed HPVs, while 18.57% (26 out of 140) remained untyped. Most samples were HPV 6/11 positive (92 out of 114, 80.7%). Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of HPV 6/11 PCR products in 89.13% (82 out of 92) and 10.87% (10 out of 92) specimens corresponded to HPV 6 and HPV 11, respectively. The frequency of other HPVs was low, i.e. there were 4.57% (8 out of 175), 1.71% (3 out of 75) and 0.57% (1 out of 175) HPV type 16, 18 and 33, respectively. There were 10 out of 175 (5.71%) cases of multiple HPV infections, of which 6 out of 10 were cases with HPV 6 and other HPV types. This raises the total prevalence of HPV type 6 to 50.29% (88 out of 175) in the study-population. The clinical diagnosis condylomata acuminata was preferentially associated with low-risk HPVs (types 6 and 11), while other lesions, especially condylomata plana, with high-risk HPVs (types 16, 18, 31 and 33) and untyped HPVs. The male population, indeed, represents a reservoir of HPV infection and directly influences cervical cancerogenesis.