the prevalence of hpv and non-hpv stis among iranian women and assessment of the hpv/non-hpv stis co-infection on cervical cell changes

Background & objective: persistent infection with some types of human papillomavirus (hpv), which are high-risk genotypes, can lead the patients toward cervical cancer and, finally, death. recent studies showed hpv co-infection with non-hpv sexually transmitted infections (non-hpv stis) could increase the persistency rate of hpv infections. this study aimed to estimate the prevalence of stis and assess the association of hpv/non-hpv stis co-infection on cervical cell changes based on cytological findings. materials & methods: in this cross-sectional study, in addition to the routine cervical screening, including hpv testing and cytological assessment, non-hpv sti testing was performed on 1065 iranian women. to assess the hpv and non-hpv stis, commercial kits were used. results: 964 (90.5%) women had normal cytology (nilm) results. the overall prevalence of hpv and non-hpv stis were 39.1% and 68.5%, respectively. hpv-53 (6.5%), -16 (6.1%) and -31 (5.5%) were found as the most prevalent genotypes. ureaplasma parvum (up) (42.7%), group b streptococcus (gbs) (23.7%), candida species (cs) (23.6%), ureaplasma urealyticum (uu) (9.6%), and mycoplasma hominis (mh) (7.1%) were found as the most prevalent non-hpv stis. the co-infection of hpv with gbs played an important role in developing the cervical lesion (p<0.05). conclusion: in the present study, the stis, including hpv, up, gbs, cs, uu, and mh, were prevalent among the study participant, and it was found that the hpv/gbs co-infection played a significant role in the development of lsil or worse cytological grades. to clarify this issue, further studies will be conducted.