A Correlated Presence of Human Cytomegalovirus and Human Papillomavirus in the Odontogenic Epithelium of Radicular Cyst

Radicular cyst (RC) is a type of odontogenic cysts that thought to be of inflammatory origin. Recently, the role of viruses in the pathogenesis of these cysts was highlighted. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the presence and correlation of Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) in samples of large RCs. A total of 16 cases of RCs were immunohistochemically analyzed for the expressions of HCMV-gB and HPV-L1 proteins. A positive HCMV-gB protein expression in the odontogenic epithelium of RC was found in 12 cases (75%) of the total samples. HCMV-gB expression was located mainly in the superior part of the epithelial wall. Meanwhile, HPV-L1 protein was expressed in the odontogenic epithelium of RC in 11 cases (68.8%). The HPV-L1 expression was located throughout the epithelial layers of the studied RCs. Spearman’s correlation test revealed a very high significant correlation between HCMV-gB and HPV-L1 expressions in the odontogenic epithelium of RC (rho= 856, p= 000). This study showed a strongly correlated presence of HCMV and HPV in the odontogenic epithelium of RC. However, a proposed role of these viruses in the pathogenesis of RC needs further investigations.