Article Investigation on Spontaneous Abortion and Human y Papillomavirus Infection Mauro Tognon, Andrea Tagliapietra, Federica Magagnoli, Chiara Mazziotta, Lucia Oton-Gonzalez , Carmen Lanzillotti, Fortunato Vesce, Carlo Contini , John Charles Rotondo * and Fernanda Martini * Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Fossato di Mortara street, 64, 44121 Ferrara, Italy;
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[email protected] (F.M.) HPV in spontaneous abortion specimens. y Received: 9 July 2020; Accepted: 12 August 2020; Published: 25 August 2020 Abstract: Viral infections are considered to be risk factors for spontaneous abortion (SA). Conflicting results have been reported on the association between Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and SA. HPV DNA was investigated in matched chorionic villi tissues and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from women who experienced SA (n = 80, cases) and women who underwent a voluntary interruption of pregnancy (VI; n = 80, controls) by qualitative PCR and quantitative droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). Viral genotyping was performed using real-time PCR in HPV-positive samples. Specific IgG antibodies against HPV16 were investigated in sera from SA (n = 80) and VI (n = 80) females using indirect ELISA assays. None of the DNA samples from SA subjects was HPV-positive (0/80), whilst HPV DNA was detected in 2.5% of VI women (p > 0.05), with a mean viral DNA load of 7.12 copy/cell.