Detection and Typing of Human Papillomaviruses by PCR

ABSTRACT

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the leading risk factor for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cervical cancer. Detection of high-risk HPV infections might identify women who are at increased risk of development or progression of a cervical lesion and may have prognostic significance. Therefore there is considerable interest in identifying and accurately typing the viruses. PCR amplification of HPV genomes is the most sensitive method for the detection of cervicovaginal HPV. The different PCR techniques used to detect HPV infection, however, affect the frequency with which viral DNA is identified. Using different PCR primer sets, we tried to optimize the detection and typing of HPVs. We tested both consensus and type-specific primers. PCR utilizing the two most commonly used consensus primer sets, MY09/MY11 and GP5+/GP6+, located within the L1 region of HPV genome, amplified a broad spectrum of HPV genotypes in a single reaction. To identify the HPV types, samples were also subjected to PCR using specific primers for HPV types 6/11, 16, 18, 31 and 33. Our results suggest that testing with both PCR using L1 consensus primers MY09/MY11 and with PCR using type-specific primers could provide the maximum accuracy of HPV identification.

Keywords:

• consensus primers
• genotyping
• human papillomavirus (HPV)
• PCR