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Background: We conducted a large international study to estimate fractions of head and neck cancers (HNCs) attributable to human papillomavirus (HPV-AFs) using six HPV-related biomarkers of viral detection, transcription, and cellular transformation. Methods: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded cancer tissues of the oral cavity (OC), pharynx, and larynx were collected from pathology archives in 29 countries. All samples were subject to histopathological evaluation, DNA quality control, and HPV-DNA detection. Samples containing HPV-DNA were further subject to HPV E6*I mRNA detection and to p16(INK4a), pRb, p53, and Cyclin D1 immunohistochemistry. Final estimates of HPV-AFs were based on HPV-DNA, HPV E6*I mRNA, and/or p16(INK4a) results. Results: A total of 3680 samples yielded valid results: 1374 pharyngeal, 1264 OC, and 1042 laryngeal cancers. HPV-AF estimates based on positivity for HPV-DNA, and for either HPV E6* I mRNA or p16(INK4a), were 22.4%, 4.4%, and 3.5% for cancers of the oropharynx, OC, and larynx, respectively, and 18.5%, 3.0%, and 1.5% when requiring simultaneous positivity for all three markers. HPV16 was largely the most common type. Estimates of HPV-AF in the oropharynx were highest in South America, Central and Eastern Europe, and Northern Europe, and lowest in Southern Europe. Women showed higher HPV-AFs than men for cancers of the oropharynx in Europe and for the larynx in Central-South America. Conclusions: HPV contribution to HNCs is substantial but highly heterogeneous by cancer site, region, and sex. This study, the largest exploring HPV attribution in HNCs, confirms the important role of HPVs in oropharyngeal cancer and drastically downplays the previously reported involvement of HPVs in the other HNCs.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections have been implicated in lung carcinogenesis, but causal associations remain uncertain. We evaluated a potential causal role for HPV infections in lung cancer through an analysis involving serology, tumor DNA, RNA, and p16 protein expression. Association between type-specific HPV antibodies and risk of lung cancer was examined among 3,083 cases and 4,328 controls in two case-control studies (retrospective) and one nested case-control study (prospective design). Three hundred and thirty-four available tumors were subjected to pathologic evaluation and subsequent HPV genotyping following stringent conditions to detect all high-risk and two low-risk HPV types. All HPV DNA-positive tumors were further tested for the expression of p16 protein and type-specific HPV mRNA. On the basis of the consistency of the results, although HPV11 and HPV31 E6 antibodies were associated with lung cancer risk in the retrospective study, no association was observed in the prospective design. Presence of type-specific antibodies correlated poorly with the presence of the corresponding HPV DNA in the tumor. Although nearly 10% of the lung tumors were positive for any HPV DNA (7% for HPV16 DNA), none expressed the viral oncogenes. No association was observed between HPV antibodies or DNA and lung cancer survival. In conclusion, we found no supportive evidence for the hypothesized causal association between HPV infections and lung cancer. (C) 2014 AACR.

The infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is the central cause of cervical cancer. There are at least 15 high-risk (HR) HPV types that are significantly associated with progression of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia to cervical cancer. Since previous studies showed that the prevalence of HPV in cervical cancers varies among different geographic regions, we wanted to investigate the prevalence of HPV types in Croatia, especially low abundant HR HPV types. By means of consensus primers directed polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we analysed cervical DNA samples of 2, 136 Croatian women, mostly with abnormal cervical smears, in order to detect the presence of HPV. Type-specific primers were then used to determine low-risk HPV types 6/11 and HR HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52 and 58. Out of 2, 136 specimens, 1, 255 (58.8%) were positive for HPV. The most prevalent type was HPV 16 with the prevalence of 15.9%, followed in decreasing order by HPV types 31, 6/11, 33, 18, 52, 45 and 58 with 8.7%, 7.1%, 4.5%, 3.8%, 2.3%, 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively. Our results indicate that prevalence of HR HPV types in Croatia is similar to other European countries.

The infection with Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the central cause of cervical cancer. There are at least 15 high-risk (HR) HPV types that are significantly associated with progression of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia to cervical cancer. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of worldwide most common HPV types according to cervical diagnosis and women’ s age. HPV DNA was detected by consensus primers directed polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Type-specific primers were used to determine low-risk HPV types 6/11 and HR HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52 and 58. Out of 2, 136 cervical specimens, 1, 255 (58.8%) were positive for HPV of which 64.5% were typed. The most prevalent type, including both single and multiple infections, was HPV 16 with the prevalence of 15.9%, followed in decreasing order by HPV types 31, 6/11, 33, 18, 52, 45 and 58 with the prevalence of 8.7%, 7.1%, 4.5%, 3.8%, 2.3%, 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively. The significant increase of frequency from low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL) to high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) was observed for HR HPV types 16, 18, 31 and 33 but not 45, 52 and 58. The frequency of unknown HPV types was almost the same in cervical specimens of women with LSIL and those with HSIL, 19.8% and 21.1%, respectively. The prevalence of HPV infection rate decreased significantly with patient age from 68.5% (age group 12 to 24 years) to 38.8% (age group 45 to 54 years). But, in women aged 55 or older the overall prevalence increased to 56.6%. Our results indicate that HPV positive women should be typed for at least HR HPV types 16, 18, 31 and 33, especially in case of older women with high-grade cervical lesions.

Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) has been implicated as the main and sole cause of cervical cancer. However, only a subset of high risk (HR ; with high oncogenic potential) HPV types are implicated in cervical cancerogenesis. Worldwide, the most frequently found HR HPV is type 16 that accounts for more than 60% of cases of cervical cancer. In Europe, HPV 18, 33, 31 and 45 are the next frequently found HR HPVs in cervical cancer specimens. HPV 52 and 58 are less frequent in Europe but not uncommon worldwide, especially in Asia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of HR HPV 45, 52 and 58 among women with cytological abnormalities, which were already tested HPV positive by consensus primers directed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) but negative by type-specific primers directed PCR for HPV 6/11, 16, 18, 31 and/or 33 (Grce M et al., Anticancer Res 2001 ; 21: 579-584.). Herein, we also used type-specific primers directed PCR for detection of HPV 45, 52 and 58 in archival DNA isolated from cervical specimens. Out of 2, 150 specimens, 61% and 39% was HPV DNA positive and negative, respectively. Our preliminary results indicate that HPV 16 is the most common, while HPV 31 is the second most common HR HPV type in this study group. The prevalence of each HPV type including HPV 6/11, 16, 31, 33, 45, 52 and 58 will be presented.

Infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HR HPV) has been implicated as the main and sole cause of cervical cancer. In Europe HR HPV 18, 33 and 31 are the most frequently found after HPV 16 that account for more than 60% of cases (1). HR HPV 52 and 58 are less frequent in Europe but not uncommon worldwide, especially in Asia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of HPV 52 and 58 among Croatian women. Thus, women with cytological abnormalities, aged 15 to 78 years, were included for HPV DNA detection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using two sets of universal primers (MY09/MY11 and L1C1/L1C2) as previously described (2). HPV types 6/11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 52 and 58 were determined by type-specific primers directed PCR. Out of 2, 241 specimens, 60.9 and 39.1% was HPV DNA positive and negative, respectively. As a sole infection the most frequently observed type was HPV 16 in 11.4% cases. The second most frequent HR type was HPV 31 found in 5.5% cases. HR HPV 18, 33 and 52 were found in almost equal proportions in 2.4, 2.7 and 2.6%, respectively. HR HPV 58 was the less frequently found in 1% cases. Additionally, LR HPV 6/11 and multiple HPV infections were both found in 5.8% cases, respectively. Among HPV DNA positive samples 23.7% samples remained untyped. Our results indicate that HPV 16 is the most common, while HPV 31 is the second most common HR HPV type among Croatian women ; HPV 52 is as frequent as HPV 18 and 33 that are the third most common HR HPV ; HPV 58 seems uncommon HR HPV type. According to our finding all HPV positive abnormal cervical specimens in Croatia should be typed for at least HR HPV 16, 18, 31, 33 and 52. (1)Clifford GM et al. Br J Cancer 2003 ; 88: 63-73. (2)Grce M et al., Anticancer Res 2001 ; 21: 579-584.

Infekcija visokorizičnim humanim papilomavirusom ustanovljena je kao glavni i nužni uzrok razvoja raka vrata maternice. Najčešći visokorizični tip HPV-a u Europi je HPV 16 koji je zastupljen u više od 60% slučajeva. Iza HPV 16 najzastupljeniji su HPV 31 i 33, dok su HPV 52 i 58 manje zastupljeni u Europi, ali su dosta česti u Aziji. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je procijeniti pojavnost HPV 52 i 58 kod žena u Hrvatskoj. U istraživanje su bili uključeni arhivski uzorci DNA izolirani iz obrisaka vrata maternice žena sa različitim citološkim abnormalnostima. Detekcija HPV DNA provedena je metodom lančane reakcije polimerazom (PCR) sa početnicama za beta-globin (interna kontrola), zajedničkim početnicama za prepoznavanje širokog spektra HPV-a te tip specifičnim početnicama za HPV 6/11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 52 i 58. U prethodnim istraživanjima na ispitanih 2.241 uzoraka utvrđeno je 1.365 (60, 91%) HPV-pozitivnih uzoraka, od kojih su 753 (55%) tipizirani kao HPV 6/11, 16, 18, 31 ili/i 33, a u 612 (45%) uzoraka tip HPV-a je ostao nepoznat. U ovom radu smo dodatno ispitali tih 612 HPV-pozitivnih uzoraka na prisutnost HPV 52 i 58. Obzirom na prethodna istraživanja te istraživanja provedena u ovom radu na istim uzorcima (N=2.241) na prvom mjestu po učestalosti je HPV 16 (11, 4%), slijede ga HPV 31 (5, 44%), 33 (2, 72%), HPV 52 (2, 59%), HPV 18 (2, 41%) te HPV 58 (0, 98%). U skupini HPV-pozitivnih (N=1.365) tipizirano ih je 833 (61%) uzoraka, dok je 532 (39%) uzoraka još uvijek nepoznatog tipa. Nismo utvrdili statistički značajnu razliku učestalosti HPV 52 i 58 obzirom na stupanj promjena vrata maternice. Prema dobivenim rezultatima možemo zaključiti da bi se svi HPV-pozitivni uzorci trebali tipizirati na barem HPV 16, 18, 31, 33 i 52.

Fungi are ubiquitous microorganisms that have a great capacity to colonise many kinds of substrates including soils, plants and animal remains. Their spores constitute a major component of airspora. The airspora dispersion and concentration depend on numerous factors including ; time of day, seasonal climatic factors of particular region (temperature, humidity, wind, rainfall), type of vegetation, air pollution, agricultural, industrial and other human activities. Members of Cladosporium, Alternaria, Penicillum and Aspergillus are the most abundant allergenic airborne fungi, permanently present in many aeromycological surveys. Exposure to airborne fungi is known to induce numerous human respiratory diseases and allergies. The aim of the research was to determine the frequency of airborne fungi on the island Obonjan, and to examine toxigenic potential of Aspergillus species which were isolated in the middle and eastern part of the island. The samples (N=16) were taken on the three different locations on island Obonjan (eastern and western part, and in the middle of island), using Petri plate gravitational method in 1 hour with 2% Sabouraud-glucose agar plates supplemented with 50 mg/L of streptomycin and 20.000 I.U. of penicillin. After the sampling, the plates were incubated at 25º C during 5 days, and colony-forming units of moulds were counted (CFU/plate/h). The isolated aspergilla were, further, investigated on production of mycotoxins (aflatoxins, sterigmatocystin, ochratoxin A) by transplanting them to the YES broth. After 10 days of incubation at 25º C, the mycotoxins were extracted by multytoxin method and detected by thin layer chromatography (1). Average concentration of airborne fungi on the island was 3.4 CFU/plate/h, which is significantly lower than concentrations previously measured in continental parts of Croatia (44 CFU/plate/h) (2). Species of Pullularia (37.5 %), Aspergillus (31.2 %), Penicillium (25.0 %), Cladosporium (18.7 %), and Alternaria (6.2 %) were the most frequently found. In further, nine strains of A. flavus were tested on the production of aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1, G2) and sterigmatocystin, and three strains of A. niger were analysed on the production of ochratoxin A. One strain of A. flavus produced AFB1 in traces (under the detection limit). Positive control of A. flavus NRRL 3251 produced 16.0  g/mL of AFB1. Other strains did not produce any of analysed mycotoxins. Higher frequency of airborne aspergilla was probably influenced by the wind and waste deposition (in addition, decay of bananas and other imported fruit) in southern of the island. The presence of great number of Pinus sp. and aerosol of essential oils can be one of the reasons for reduced airspora viability and probably suppress production of aflatoxin.