A new study has revealed that human papillomavirus (HPV) can also significantly increase the risk of heart disease and coronary artery disease. HPV is responsible to several types of cancers including cervical cancer.
According to the research, patients who test positive for HPV have a notably higher likelihood of developing cardiovascular issues, such as plaque buildup in the arteries, which reduces blood flow to the heart.
“Our study shows that clearly there is an association of some kind between HPV and cardiovascular disease,” said Stephen Akinfenwa, MD, lead author and an internal medicine resident at UConn School of Medicine. “The biological mechanism has not been determined but is hypothesized to be related to chronic inflammation. We would ultimately like to see if reducing HPV via vaccination could reduce cardiovascular risk.”
According to a News Medical report, this new study is the first to assess the association by pooling data from several global studies, totaling nearly 250,000 patients.
HPV is a common viral infection spread by intimate contact. It can cause genital warts and cancers of the genitals, anus and throat.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintains that all children and teens receive the HPV vaccine to prevent cancers associated with the infection; however, many U.S. adults have not been vaccinated because they were past the recommended age to receive the vaccine when it became available in 2006.
The study analyzed data from nearly 250,000 patients across seven global studies conducted between 2011 and 2024, marking the first large-scale effort to assess the relationship between HPV and cardiovascular outcomes.
The researchers maintain that clinicians could consider closer heart monitoring for people who test positive for HPV.