Distribution of human papillomavirus genotypes in plucked eyebrow hairs from Slovenian males with genital warts

In the present study, the presence and distribution of human papillomaviruses (HPVs) in the plucked eyebrow hairs obtained from 49 Slovenian male patients with genital warts were investigated. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with three sets of degenerate primers targeting all known HPV genotypes, HPV DNA was found in 31 (63.3%) of 49 eyebrow hair samples. Epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV) associated HPV specific Ma/Ha nested PCR system detected HPVs in 27 (55.1%) and CPI/CPIIs primers that amplify the majority of cutaneous/EV HPV genotypes in 20 (40.8%) of 49 samples tested. The CPI/CPIIg PCR specific for E1 open reading frame of genital HPVs showed the presence of HPV DNA in 10 (20.4%) of 49 specimens. Direct sequencing of the Ha PCR products showed the presence of three putative new HPV genotypes, named SIBX1, SIBX2 and SIBX3. Similarly, three potential new HPV genotypes, SIBX4, SIBX5 and SIBX6, were detected by sequencing CPI/CPIIs PCR products. In total, at least 24 different HPV genotypes were detected in 31 HPV DNA positive samples of plucked eyebrow hairs. The results of our study showed that the use of a combined degenerate primer PCR approach considerably improves the HPV DNA detection over individual primer sets and greatly improves the detection of different HPV genotypes in the plucked eyebrow hairs.