Evaluation of oxidative stress marker in patients with human papillomavirus infection

Introduction and Objective: Human papillomavirus (HPV) unenveloped viruses with double-stranded circular DNA cause infection in skin epithelial cells and mucosal surfaces. HPV infection has been detected in more than 70% of cervical cancers throughout the world. Among the effective factors in the progression of HPV infection are oxidative stress and oxidative markers, and the oxidative stress during viral infection can be due to the host immune responses to viral proteins or as a result of viral genes expression. This study aims to compare the mean serum level of oxidative malondialdehyde (MDA) marker and the mean of 8-Hydroxyguanosine (8- OhdG) in two groups of healthy people and patients with HPV infection. Methods: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study in which 30 patients with HPV infection and 35 healthy people (as the control group) were selected using convenience sampling method. After obtaining written consent from the subjects, the researchers took fasting blood samples and morning urine samples from them. Serum MDA was measured using the spectrophotometric method, and 8-OHdG was measured using the competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS version 17. Results: The results of this study showed that the mean and standard deviation of serum MDA concentration have increased significantly in patients with HPVs infection (4.56 ± 1.64 nM) than in the control group (1.64 ± 0.37 nM). The mean and standard deviation of urinary concentration (8-OHDG) in patients with HPV infection was 14.61 ± 1.39 ng/ml while it was 9.66 ± 1.74 ng/ml in the control group. It was significantly higher in people who had high-risk HPV infection than in the group with low-risk HPV (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, oxidative reactions and biological damage caused by these reactions as a result of the increased oxidative stress in the body can be suggested as a mechanism involved in the progression of the cervical papillomavirus infection and the cancer caused by it.