High-oncogenic-risk human papillomavirus infection-associated dysbiosis of cervical microbiota

The cervical microenvironment is a multifaceted system comprising immune cells and distinct microbiota. Prolonged infections with high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) variants, specifically HPV16 or HPV18, pose a significant risk for the development of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cervical cancer (CC). Comparing 44 women infected with high-risk HPV (hrHPV) to 25 non-infected healthy women, this study explored cervical microbiota (CM) profiles associated with HPV infections and Lactobacillus dominance. All samples were subjected to 16s rRNA-Seq analysis. Alpha and beta diversity analyses reveal no significant differences in the CM of hrHPV-infected women, including hrHPV types 16 and 18, and those with squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL), compared to a control group. In this study we identified significantly lower abundance of Lactobacillus mucosae in women with hrHPV infection compared to the control group. Furthermore, changes in bacterial diversity were noted in Lactobacillus non-dominant (LND) samples compared to Lactobacillus-dominant (LD) in both hrHPV-infected and control groups. LND samples in hrHPV-infected women exhibited a cervical dysbiotic state, characterized by Lactobacillus deficiency. In turn, the LD hrHPV group showed an overrepresentation of Lactobacillus helveticus. In summary, our study highlighted the distinctive roles of L. mucosae and L. helveticus in hrHPV infections, signaling a need for further research to demonstrate potential clinical implications of CM dysbiosis