Association of Plasma Aflatoxin With Persistent Detection of Oncogenic Human Papillomaviruses in Cervical Samples From Kenyan Women Enrolled in a Longitudinal Study

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is common among Kenyan women and is caused by oncogenic human papillomaviruses (HR-HPV). Identification of factors that increase HR-HPV persistence is critically important. Kenyan women exposed to aflatoxin have an increased risk of cervical HR-HPV detection. This analysis was performed to examine associations between aflatoxin and HR-HPV persistence. METHODS: Kenyan women were enrolled in a prospective study. The analytical cohort for this analysis included 67 HIV-uninfected women (mean age 34 years) who completed at least two of three annual study visits and had an available blood sample. Plasma aflatoxin was detected using ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC)-isotope dilution mass spectrometry. Annual cervical swabs were tested for HPV (Roche Linear Array). Ordinal logistic regression models were tted to examine associations of aflatoxin and HPV persistence. RESULTS: Aflatoxin was detected in 59.7% of women and was associated with higher risk of persistent detection of any HPV type (OR = 3.03, 95%CI = 1.08–8.55, P = 0.036), HR-HPV types (OR = 3.63, 95%CI = 1.30–10.13, P = 0.014), and HR-HPV types not included in the 9-valent HPV vaccine (OR = 4.46, 95%CI = 1.13–17.58, P = 0.032). CONCLUSIONS: Aflatoxin detection was associated with increased risk of HR-HPV persistence in Kenyan women. Further studies are needed to determine if aflatoxin synergistically interacts with HR-HPV to increase cervical cancer risk.