Cytological physiognomies and genotype distribution of human papillomaviruses among HPV/HIV co-infected and HPV mono-infected women

Background: Co-infection of High Risk Human Papillomavirus (HR-HPV) and HIV is thought to favour initiation of intraepithelial squamous cell lesion and subsequent progression to cervical carcinoma. Objectives: Evaluation of cytological physiognomies in relation to possible age influence and the genotype distribution of human papillomaviruses among HPV/HIV co-infected and HPV monoinfected women in Kisii, Kenya. Methods: The case-control study enrolled 42 HPV/HIV co-infected and 42 HPV monoinfected women. Cervical swabs were collected in ThinPrep vials for HPV tying and cytological analysis. HPV subtypes were assayed by Xpert® HPV system (GXHPV-CE-10). Results: Mono-infected women aged 30-39 years had the highest proportion of low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) at 14 (16.67%) while the co-infected aged 50-59 years had the highest proportion of high grade squamous intraepi- thelial lesion (HSIL) at 9 (10.71%). HPV-16 genotype was the most predominant and it increased with age rise. Older coin- fected and mono-infected women (>40 years) had HSIL and LSIL as the most predominant cytological grade respectively. Conclusion: The predominance of HPV-16 and HPV-18/45 genotypes in the study setting is a consideration that would benefit targeted prophylactic vaccination programs. HPV testing and cervical cancer screening for young and older women on a regular basis ought to be reinforced. Keywords: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); Human Papillomavirus (HPV); co-infection; genotype; cytology.