title: Prevalence and viral load of 51 genital human papillomavirus types and three subtypes.
abstract: Of the 120 known human papillomaviruses (HPV), 51 HPV types infect the genital mucosa. Very little is known about the prevalence and viral load of the majority of these low-risk (Lr-) HPV types in screening populations. We determined the prevalence of 51 HPV types and three subtypes in 999 consecutive BD-SurePath™ liquid-based cervical cytology samples collected during routine gynecological health checks from Belgian women. This series of screening samples was enriched with ASC-US (n = 100), low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion LSIL (n = 100) and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) (n = 97) and analyzed by BSGP5+/6+-PCR/MPG assay for 51 HPV types and three subtypes. In consecutive screening samples, any of the 54 genital HPV (sub)types was found in 37.1%; Hr-HPV types were detected more frequently (26.8%) than the 31 Lr-HPV types (16.4%) and the six possibly high-risk types (6.6%). High viral load infections were present in 17.0% of the screening population. Among the women with cytological abnormalities, the prevalence of high viral loads of Hr-HPV types increased from negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy (NIL/M) over ASC-US, LSIL to HSIL (5.3, 47.1, 84.2 and 91.8%, respectively). The prevalence of possibly Hr and Lr-HPV types increased from NIL/M to LSIL but declined to HSIL. From NIL/M to HSIL, Hr-HPV infections showed an increasing frequency of high viral loads compared to total DNA positivity, but the increase between LSIL and HSIL was small. Type-specific analyses revealed substantial differences between individual HPV types in these groups. Our study provides quantitative data for the whole spectrum of genital HPV in a Belgian screening population and in a representative set of women with cervical abnormalities.
authors.affiliation: Department Genome Modifications and Carcinogenesis (F020), Research Program Infection and Cancer, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany. markus.schmitt@dkfz.de
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schmitt
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Depuydt
authors.forename: Ina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Benoy
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bogers
authors.forename: Jerome
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Antoine
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arbyn
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pawlita
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D052685:Alphapapillomavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000821:virology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D014626:Vaginal Smears; D019562:Viral Load; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral