Molecular Diagnosis of Human Papillomavirus: Comparison Between Cervical and Vaginal Sampling

[摘要] Background:Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most significant cause of cervical cancer. In view of the numberof drawbacks associated with endocervical sampling, the gold standard for HPV detection, this study examined theutility and specificity of vaginal sampling as an alternative for endocervical sampling for the routine detection ofHPV.Case study:The study comprised 51 women who tested positive and 54 women who tested negative forendocervical HPV by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), confirmed by histopathology. At the time of specimencollection, both (speculum-assisted) endocervical and vaginal (no speculum) scrapings were isolated from HPV positiveand negativewomen, andHPV DNA was assessed by PCR using the MY09/MY11 primer system;HPV typewas identified by hybridization of PCR products with type-specific biotinylated DNA probes. Each participantserved as her own control. HPV was detected in vaginal and cervical scrapes from all HPV-positive but notHPV-negative women. In HPV-positivewomen the same HPV type was found in vaginal and endocervical scrapings(positive predictive value = 1.0).Conclusion:Correlation between vaginal and endocervical sampling methods was excellent in detecting thepresence of HPV DNA and for identifying distinct HPV genotypes. Utilization of vaginal testing for routine HPVdetection, and for the long-term follow-up of persistent HPV infection, is therefore recommended.

[学科分类] 妇产科学