Vaginal cells of smokers are more resistant to human papillomavirus infection than that of non-smokers.

Abstract To evaluate effect of HPV and smoking on DNA double-strand breaks in vaginal samples, vaginal specimens collected from participants (n = 76) were classified based on HPV and smoking status, and DNA double-strand breaks measured using comet assay. Mean tail length (31.2 ± 18.7 μm) and tail moment (2.4 ± 2.8 arbitrary units) for HPV-positive patients were lower (p