title: Viral load of human papillomavirus in women with normal and abnormal cervical cytology in Kuwait.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are the most commonly known sexually transmitted agents. Almost all cases of cervical cancer are caused by persistent infection. This study was conducted to ascertain whether there is a difference in HPV load in cervical samples with normal and abnormal cervical cytology reports in Kuwait.
  
  
  METHODS
  HPV-positive abnormal ThinPrep samples (n = 206) and normal ThinPrep samples (n = 120) were taken from women attending gynecology clinics. Real-time PCR was used to measure the viral load for all HPV genotypes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median normalized viral load in samples with normal and abnormal cytology reports was 0.86 × 10-7 and 4.66 × 10-7, respectively (p = 0.001). Median normalized viral load of high-risk (HR), intermediate-risk (IR) and low-risk (LR) HPV was 4.04 × 10-7, 0.71 × 10-7 and 2.38 × 10-7, respectively, (p = 0.002).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that, in the absence of a proper screening programme in Kuwait, quantification of HPV viral load could be considered as a surrogate virology test to identify women with abnormal cytology. Further population-based prospective studies are needed to include more women with high-grade and invasive carcinoma reports.
authors: Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Kuwait University, Kuwait . r.al-awadhi@hsc.edu.kw
authors: Rana
authors: R
authors: Al-Awadhi
authors: Wassim
authors: W
authors: Chehadeh
authors: Waleed
authors: W
authors: Al-Jassar
authors: Jehad
authors: J
authors: Al-Harmi
authors: Eyad
authors: E
authors: Al-Saleh
authors: Kusum
authors: K
authors: Kapila
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007730:Kuwait; D008875:Middle Aged; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000821:virology*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000821:virology*; D019562:Viral Load; D055815:Young Adult