Infection with high-risk strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), which have been linked to cancer, might increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, a study warns.
While cardiovascular disease has known risk factors -- such as cigarette smoking; high cholesterol, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, poor diet, obesity and diabetes -- to prevent cardiovascular disease, it is important to uncover other potential contributors.
One potential contributor is the most common sexually transmitted disease worldwide -- the human papillomavirus or HPV, according to researchers from Kangbuk Samsung Hospital in South Korea.
Certain strains of HPV are considered high risk because they can increase the risk of certain kinds of cancer, especially cervical, but also vaginal, vulvar, penile as well as mouth and throat.
A pap test can detect abnormal cells in the cervix, but HPV infection often has no symptoms until cancerous cells develop.
In the study published in the journal Circulation Research, the team looked at the relationship between high-risk HPV and cardiovascular disease diagnosed during the course of the study.
After adjusting for other factors -- such as body mass index (BMI), a weight-to-height ratio, smoking, alcohol use, exercise, education level and family history of cardiovascular disease -- women with high-risk HPV were 22 per cent more likely than uninfected women to develop cardiovascular disease.
The likelihood of cardiovascular disease rose even more when high-risk HPV occurred in conjunction with obesity or metabolic syndrome.
Comparing high-risk positive to high-risk HPV negative women, women with obesity were nearly two-thirds more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, and those with metabolic syndrome and high-risk HPV were nearly twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease.
Factors associated with a greater likelihood of high-risk HPV included current smoking and alcohol consumption. Interestingly, women who reported being physically active also were more likely to have high-risk HPV.
In contrast, higher education, defined as a college degree or more, was associated with a decreased likelihood of having high-risk HPV.
"A better understanding of high-risk HPV as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and possible combined effects of high-risk HPV, obesity and metabolic syndrome in increasing cardiovascular disease risk may help improve preventive strategies and patient outcomes," said Seungho Ryu, a professor at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital.
"Further studies are required to identify specific high-risk HPV genotypes that may contribute to cardiovascular disease and to examine whether vaccine strategies to reduce high-risk HPV infection for cancer prevention may also help reduce cardiovascular disease," Ryu said.
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