High prevalence of human papillomavirus infection in Mexican males - Comparative study of penile-urethral swabs and urine samples

Background: Although extensive information has been gathered about the prev alence and determinants of human papillomavirus infection among women, litt le is known about the prevalence and natural history of this infection amon g males. Goal: To investigate the potential usefulness of urine specimens to assess the presence of genital human papillomavirus DNA infection, Study Design: The authors conducted a study of 120 healthy men from Cuernav aca, Mexico. A urine specimen and urethral and coronal sulcus swab samples were collected and tested for human papillomavirus using the GP5+/6+ polyme rase chain reaction enzyme immunoassay method. Results: In 95% of the urethral-coronal sulcus samples, the beta -globin ge ne was detectable, indicating adequacy of the specimen for DNA amplificatio n; however, only 14% of the urine specimens had detectable beta -globin, Re moval of inhibitors by DNA purification in a sample of subjects produced be ta -globin amplification, but no increase in human papillomavirus DNA posit ivity was detected. Human papillomavirus DNA was not detectable in penile-u rethral swab samples in any of the subjects who reported not having engaged in sexual activity but was present in 43% of men who reported sexual activ ity, a strong indication of the sexual transmission of human papillomavirus . Conclusions: Human papillomavirus is a common sexually transmitted infectio n among Mexican males, and urine sample specimens cannot adequately detect the presence of this infection in males.