Abstract: XU Ya-nan, YANG Yang, LI Peng-fei, FAN Wei, MA Cui-ling. Department of Dermatology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, China Corresponding author: MA Cui-ling, Email: macuiling@fmmu.edu.cn 【Abstract】 Objective To detect beta-human papilloma virus （HPV） and determine its genotype in actinic keratosis （AK） lesions. Methods Tissue specimens were collected from the lesions of 39 patients with AK and normal skin of 40 healthy controls. A nested PCR was performed to detect alpha-HPV and beta-HPV DNA in these specimens. The genotype of beta-HPV was determined in beta-HPV DNA-positive specimens by a common PCR using specific primers targeting 12 HPV genotypes, including HPV 5, 8, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 36, 38, 49 and 80. Results The detection rate of beta-HPV DNA was 84.6% （30/39） in the patients with AK, and 30.0% （12/40） in the healthy controls （χ2 = 6.76, P < 0.05）, while no significant difference was observed in the detection rate of alpha-HPV DNA between the two groups （12.8% vs. 7.5%, χ2 = 0.91, P > 0.05）. HPV 38 was the predominant genotype of beta-HPV in these patients with a detection rate of 36% （12/33）, followed by HPV36. The prevalence of all the 12 genotypes of HPV was consistently low in the healthy controls. Mixed HPV infections were observed in 10 AK lesions, but in none of the healthy controls. No statistical difference was noted in the positivity rate of beta-HPV among patients at different ages, of different genders, with different occupations or clinical courses （χ2 = 0.53, 0.94, 0.81, 0.73, respectively, all P > 0.05）. Conclusions Compared with healthy controls, the patients with AK showed a higher beta-HPV infection rate, with HPV38 as the predominant genotype.

Key words: Human papillomavirus