HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS IS MORE PREVALENT IN FIRST-TRIMESTER SPONTANEOUSLY ABORTED PRODUCTS OF CONCEPTION COMPARED TO ELECTIVE SPECIMENS

In this study the possible role of human papillomaviruses (HPV) in spo ntaneous abortions is addressed by assaying for HPV DNA in first trime ster spontaneous and electively aborted products of conception materia ls enriched for chorionic villi. The presence of HPVs was measured by polymerase chain reacton (PCR) amplification and DNA dot blot hybridiz ation using an internal probe. The ''broad spectrum'' HPV primers were directed to amplify E6/E7 junction sequences, while the probe was of an HPV-16 sequence with significant homology to HPV-6/11. The quantity and quality of isolated DNA was also analyzed and compared by observi ng the PCR amplification of a cellular sequence from the human beta-gl obin gene. Fifteen of the 25 spontaneous samples (60%) were found to b e positive for HPV E6/E7 sequences. In comparison, only 3 of the 15 el ective samples (20%) were positive. This is the first study of HPV in fetal materials to incorporate material from elective abortions as a c ontrol group. Although confounding contamination from the cervix and v agina can't be ruled out, these data are significant and strongly sugg est that HPVs are elevated in spontaneously aborted products of concep tion. Furthermore, these results suggest the possibility that HPVs may be etiologic agents of at least some spontaneous abortions.