Background: The quadrivalent human papillomavirus (qHPV) and 9 valent (nHPV) vaccine are licensed for males to prevent anal HPV-associated dysplasia and cancer caused by HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18 (qHPV) and additional types 33, 35, 45, 52, and 58 (nHPV), respectively. Both conditions are common in HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected men who have sex with men (MSM). It is not well documented which anal HPV vaccine types are most prevalent in Southeast Asia.
Methods: A convenience sample of 400 anal swabs were obtained from 200 HIV-infected and 200 HIV-uninfected sexually active Bangkok MSM Cohort Study participants. After swab collection in PreservCyt (Cytyc Corp, Marlborough, MA), the media was stored at -80°C until processing. DNA was extracted, amplified by polymerase chain reaction, denatured, and then hybridized to probes for 37 HPV types and β-globin.
Results: The mean participant age was 25.6 years (range, 18-55 years); the mean CD4 T-cell count was 410 cells/mm in the HIV-infected participants. Among all swab samples, 386 (192 HIV-positive and 194 HIV-negative) had adequate β-globin for HPV genotype testing. Anal HPV type was detected in 44.3% of participants whose samples underwent genotype testing. Both qHPV and nHPV types were more frequently detected in HIV-infected compared with HIV-uninfected (42.2% vs. 23.2% [P < 0.01], 50.0% vs. 24.2% [P < 0.01]), respectively). There were no significant relationships between social behaviors (alcohol use, drug use) or sexual behaviors (number of partners, condom usage, sexual positioning) and anal HPV prevalence.
Conclusions: The prevalence of anal vaccine HPV types in Thai MSM was similar to that reported in MSM from Western populations and has a similar distribution by HIV status. Targeting young MSM with vaccination could offer protection against HPV vaccine types.