Detection of HPV infection by analyzing the changes in structure of peripheral blood lymphocytes specifically induced by HPV E7 antigen.
OBJECTIVE
Detection of human papilloma virus (HPV) infection in clinical practice was examined based on the observation that peripheral blood lymphocytes exposed in vitro to antigenic or mitogenic stimulation change their intracellular structures as measured by polarization of fluorescent light emitted by labeled cells.


METHODS
A total of 47 women were enrolled in this study. They were classified into four groups based on the results of HPV-DNA detection in cervical tissues by the Hybrid Capture II kit (Digene, Gaithersburg, MD, USA) and pathological examination. Ten women with no HPV-DNA detection were used as a normal control group. Fifteen women without pathological diagnosis in the cervical tissues had HPV-DNA detection. Ten women with CIN lesions had 80% HPV-DNA detection. Twelve women with invasive squamous cell carcinoma had 100% HPV detection. Peripheral blood lymphocytes derived from all women were collected and then exposed to HPV-E7 antigen and PHA mitogen.


RESULTS
The positive response rate of HPV-E7 antigen was ten percent (1/10) in the normal control group, 73.3% (11/15) in the HPV infectious women, 50% (5/10) in the CIN women, and 91.7% (11/12) in the cervical cancer patients. The overall sensitivity rate of blood tests was 77.1% and the specificity rate was 57.8% when the Hybrid Capture II HPV Test kit was used as the standard detection method for cervical tissue.


CONCLUSIONS
The results showed that peripheral blood lymphocytes derived from patients with cervical lesions might be another choice to be used as a screening method to detect HPV infection compared with conventional methods.
Chao
K C
KC
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital and National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
Wang
P H
PH
Yen
M S
MS
Chang
C C
CC
D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015344:DNA Probes, HPV; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000473:pathology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D014626:Vaginal Smears
D015344:DNA Probes, HPV; D004279:DNA, Viral