Genotipos de virus del papiloma humano más frecuentes en mujeres con citología cervicovaginal alterada utilizando técnicas de captura de híbridos y reacción en cadena de la polimerasa

Abstract

Introduction Infection with high-risk genotypes of human papillomavirus (HPV) is the main cause of cervical cancer. The HPV tests currently used to detect high-risk HPV in cervical scrapings are hybrid capture (HC) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). However, because of their cost and the need for technical resources and experienced personnel, none of these techniques is appropriate for screening. Objective To study the prevalence of high-risk HPV in women with abnormal cytology using two commercially available tests: HC and PCR. Material and methods A total of 342 cervical samples from 171 patients with abnormal cytology were studied to detect the presence of high-risk HPV using HC (Hybrid CaptureTM, Digene Corporation, Gaithersburg, USA) and PCR (PVHfastTM, Genomica SA) following the manufacturers’ instructions. Results There were 69 positive samples and 58 negative samples with both assays (kappa: 0.65). In 17 samples, no results were obtained by PCR because of assay inhibition. Of these, 9 were positive and 8 were negative using HC. Analysis of the prevalence of HPV types showed that the most common was genotype 16/82 (the PCR technique used does not discriminate genotypes 16-82) in 20 samples followed by genotype 53 in 8 samples. Discussion Both assays are useful for the detection of high-risk HPV in cervical scrapings. Unlike other authors, we found that the HC assay was more sensitive in detecting high-risk HPV. PCR has the advantage of identifying an exact genotype and mixed infections and is also useful for epidemiologic purposes. The most prevalent genotype in women with abnormal cytology was type 16 but the second most frequent genotype, type 53, was not found in women with cervical cancer and was therefore classified as «probably carcinogenic ». The epidemiological importance of this genotype should be investigated with a view to including it in future vaccines.