Human vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN) samples Metagenome. human skin metagenome

Vulvar Intraepithelial Neoplasia (VIN) is the precursor lesion of Vulvar Squamous Cell Carcinoma (VSCC), and the differentiated type (dVIN) is more frequently observed in relation to VSCC. To date, no infectious agent has been identified in association with dVIN, and studies investigating this possibility have been hindered by the difficulty in accurately diagnosing dVIN from small biopsies. Here, we used immunostaining for p16ink4a, a biomarker for HPV infection, to study 14 uVIN high-grade VIN and 14 dVIN cases, and to select 10 dVIN cases to broadly screen for all known viruses using a pan-viral microarray platform (ViroChip). ViroChip analysis of 10 pure dVIN samples confirmed the absence of human papillomavirus subtypes or any other virus with the exception of a single sample that showed a weak microarray signature to a porcine herpesvirus. Follow-up PCR testing of the sample was negative for herpesvirus, and in-depth metagenomic next-generation sequencing revealed only sequences corresponding to non-pathogenic viral flora and bacterial contamination. In this study, we demonstrated lack of a virus association in 10 dVIN cases.