HPV is known to cause cancer of the cervix, vulva, penis, anus and throat, but the new study is the first to connect the virus to heart disease. The heart findings are not definitive: They show the virus may be associated with heart disease, but do not prove it caused the disease.

The senior author of the study, Dr. Kenichi Fujise, a cardiologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, said the research grew out of his quest to find out why some people have heart attacks even though they have none of the usual risk factors, like high cholesterol or high blood pressure. About 20 percent of patients with heart disease lack obvious risk factors, and researchers think those people must have other underlying problems that science has not yet figured out.

Dr. Fujise decided to study HPV because the virus can sabotage a gene called p53, which normally protects the body from cancer and may also help prevent artery disease. Inactivation of p53 occurs in a variety of cancers, and the gene is considered to be a sort of guardian of the genome. Disabling p53 may also lead to inflammation and thickening in the walls of arteries.

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. Scientists estimate that half of sexually active men and women have been infected and that 80 percent of women have had it by age 50. The virus has many strains, only some of which cause cancer. In most people, the immune system fights off the virus.

The infection persists and causes cancer in only a small minority. Two vaccines are approved to prevent HPV infection and are recommended for young people before they become sexually active. The vaccine does not work in people who are already infected.