Association between genital mycoplasmas infection and human papillomavirus infection, abnormal cervical cytopathology, and cervical cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Some studies demonstrated that female genital mycoplasmas play important roles in human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, abnormal cervical cytopathology, and cervical cancer. However, those results remained inconclusive. We aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the association between female genital mycoplasmas and those disorders. Computerized databases were comprehensively searched before 26 January 2017. Pooled odd radios (ORs) and correlative 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were adopted to evaluate the strength of association. Our meta-analysis included 22 studies with 16,181 participants. Ureaplasma urealyticum and Ureaplasma parvum were associated with a significantly increased risk of overall HPV infection (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.05–2.34; OR 3.02, 95% CI 2.10–4.33, respectively), and U. urealyticum and Mycoplasma genitalium were associated with a significantly increased risk of high-risk HPV infection (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.05–1.80; OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.11–2.02, respectively). In addition, U. urealyticum, U. parvum, and Mycoplasma hominis were associated with a significantly increased risk of abnormal cervical cytopathology (OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.23–1.85; OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.10–1.80; OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.10–1.99, respectively). We found that U. urealyticum and M. genitalium may increase the risk of high-risk HPV infection, while U. urealyticum, U. parvum, and M. hominis may increase the risk of abnormal cervical cytopathology.