HPV genotype prevalence in cytologically abnormal cervical samples from women living in south Italy

• Published in: Virus research Vol. 133; no. 2; pp. 195 - 200
• Main Authors: Capra, Giuseppina, Giovannelli, Lucia, Bellavia, Carmelina, Migliore, Maria Colomba, Caleca, Maria Pia, Perino, Antonio, Ammatuna, Pietro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.05.2008
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Cervical; Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia - pathology; Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia - virology; Cervix Uteri - pathology; Cervix Uteri - virology; Distribution; DNA, Viral; Female; Genotype; Genotypes; Human papillomavirus; Humans; Italy - epidemiology; Middle Aged; Papillomaviridae - classification; Papillomaviridae - genetics; Papillomaviridae - isolation & purification; Papillomavirus Infections - epidemiology; Papillomavirus Infections - virology; Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Prevalence; Samples; Italy; Samples; Genotypes; Distribution; Cervical
• ISSN: 0168-1702; 1872-7492
• DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2007.12.020

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the commonest sexually transmitted infection, and high-risk HPV types are associated with cervical carcinogenesis. This study investigated: the HPV type-specific prevalence in 970 women with an abnormal cytological diagnosis; and the association of HPV infection and cervical disease in a subset of 626 women with a histological diagnosis. HPV-DNA was researched by nested PCR/sequencing and the INNOLiPA HPV Genotyping assay. The data were analysed by the chi-square test ( p ≤ 0.05 significant). Overall, the HPV prevalence was 37.7%; high-risk genotypes were found in 88.5% of women and multiple-type infections in 30.9% of the HPV-positive women. The commonest types were HPV-16 (8.2%), HPV-6 (5.0%), HPV-51 (4.2%) and HPV-53 (3.6%). Among the women with histological diagnosis, HPV was evident in 19.9% of those without lesions, 65.8% of those with low-grade lesions and 100% ( p = 0.002) of those with high-grade lesions. The commonest types were HPV-16 (in 14.7% low-grade and 42.8% high-grade lesions), HPV-31 (4.7% and 14.3%, respectively) and HPV-33 (2.0% and 14.3%, respectively). Two high-grade lesions contained exclusively one uncommon type, namely, HPV-83 and -85. This study confirmed the high prevalence of HPV infection and high-risk genotypes among women with cervical abnormalities living in Italy. These data may contribute to increasing the knowledge of HPV epidemiology and designing adequate vaccine strategies.