Intervention in clearance of persistent hrHPV infections
While most hrHPV infections are transient, 10–20% of infections
persist latently, leading to disease progression and various forms of
invasive cancer.20 Infection of the basal cells of the
lower epithelium by hrHPV through a micro-abrasion or wound in the
stratified epithelium causes the virus particles to attach to heparan
sulfate proteoglycans (HSPG) on the basement membrane, inducing a series
of conformational changes that promote viral entry. HPV particles enter
the basal keratinocyte cells by endocytosis, which is mediated by an
uncharacterized secondary receptor on the membrane of host cells. After
the basal cells of the cervical epithelium are infected with hrHPV virus
particles, a small amount of established extrachromosomal viral genomes
will persist in self-renewing basal cells of the lower epithelium. This
pool of infected basal cells forms the base of the infected lesion and
acts as a reservoir for persistent hrHPV
infection.21After initial HPV DNA amplification, the viral genome must be
”established” as a stable, low-copy number extrachromosomal element in
the host cell nucleus. These genomes must evade detection by innate
immune defenses in order to avoid recognition and clearance by the
immune system. Therefore, hrHPV can sustain long-term infection in
squamous stratified epithelium by viral DNA, preserving a low copy
number of extrachromosomal plasmids for maintenance replication in
dividing basal cells, while progeny viral genomes are amplified
abundantly in differentiated superficial cells.22Hence, persistent hrHPV infection can evade immunity, which is difficult
to self-clean, and requires clinical intervention.
REBACIN®effectively eliminates persistent hrHPV
infection
In two independent parallel clinical studies, three months of
REBACIN® treatment led to 62.11% (59/95) of
hrHPV-positive patients becoming hrHPV-negative compared to 15.38%
(16/104) in the control group (Table 1).13 These two
independent parallel clinical studies demonstrated that
REBACIN® has a significant effect on clearing
persistent hrHPV infections and highlighted the development of a novel
non-invasive therapeutic intervention with significant efficacy in
clearing persistent HPV infections.