@article {Suehiro242, author = {Tamy Tiemi Suehiro and Nat{\'a}lia Malaguti and Edilson Damke and Nelson Shozo Uchimura and Fabr{\'\i}cia Gimenes and Raquel Pantarotto Souza and V{\^a}nia Ramos Sela da Silva and Marcia Edilaine Lopes Consolaro}, title = {Association of human papillomavirus and bacterial vaginosis with increased risk of high-grade squamous intraepithelial cervical lesions}, volume = {29}, number = {2}, pages = {242--249}, year = {2019}, doi = {10.1136/ijgc-2018-000076}, publisher = {BMJ Specialist Journals}, abstract = {Objective To assess the rates of co-infections between human papillomavirus (HPV) and 13 key markers of bacterial vaginosis in cervical samples by multiplex polymerase chain reaction in a population with a high rate of abnormal cytology and a positive HPV test.Methods The study included a total of 213 women aged 18{\textendash}72 years screened using Papanicolaou smears for determining cervical abnormalities and for HPV and bacterial vaginosis by single-target and multiplex polymerase chain reaction.Results A total of 83 (39\%) women were negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy cytology and 130 (61\%) had abnormal cytology. HPV-DNA prevalence was 69.9\% and bacterial vaginosis was 72.7 \%. Co-infections between bacterial vaginosis with HPV-DNA and high-risk HPV were associated with an increased risk for squamous intraepithelial lesions of low-grade cytology and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions plus cervical cancer. The most frequent bacterial vaginosis agent was Gardnerella vaginalis (33.8\%), and co-infection with HPV-DNA and high-risk HPV increased the risk for squamous intraepithelial lesions of low grade cytology and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions plus cervical cancer. Co-infection between Megasphaera type I and high-risk HPV increased the risk for high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions plus cervical cancer.Conclusions Our results reinforce the hypothesis that some bacterial vaginosis agents may play a role as co-factors in HPV-mediated cervical carcinogenesis, at least in some populations.}, issn = {1048-891X}, URL = {https://ijgc.bmj.com/content/29/2/242}, eprint = {https://ijgc.bmj.com/content/29/2/242.full.pdf}, journal = {International Journal of Gynecologic Cancer} }