Determinants of the presence of human papillomaviruses in the anal canal of Russian men

Knowledge of determinants of anal human papillomavirus (HPV) infections among men is still limited as most of the studies are focused on high-risk populations and geographically narrowed. Such knowledge obtained in different populations is essential for better understanding of HPV natural history, transmission dynamics, and its role in the development and prevention of anogenital malignancies in different regions. Here we tested anal canal swab samples from 359 Russian heterosexual (323 human immunodeficiency virus [HIV]-negative and 27 HIV-positive, aged 18-67 years) men attending a sexually transmitted infection clinic 36 HPV types using a proficient Luminex assay. HPV-positivity in anal samples was common for 332 HIV-negative heterosexual men for overall HPV (15.7%, n = 52), oncogenic HPV (9.6%, n = 32), nononcogenic HPV (8.1%, n = 27), and multiple HPV infections (4.5%, n = 14). The most common anal HPV types were HPV16 (5.7%), HPV45, and HPV51 (1.8% each), HPV66, and HPV87 (1.8% each). No association was found with the number of lifetime sexual partners, age of participants at the time of the study, or their sexual debut. Although anal HPV positivity was more common among HIV-positive men, the current study provides additional evidence that anal HPV can be frequently detected in heterosexual HIV-negative men favoring further studies on transmission routes to discriminate between contamination and true HPV infection.