Molecular Variants of HPV Type 16 E6 Among Honduran Women

In this study, we investigated the prevalence of human papillomavirus 16 (HPV-16) variants in Honduran women with normal cytology and with dysplasia and cervical cancer.

Samples identified as positive for HPV-16 by SPF10-LiPA were tested for intratypic subtypes and variants by analysis of the E6/E7 region using a novel reverse hybridization assay (line probe assay).

We found that most infections in all clinical groups belong to the E6 European variants, suggesting that HPV-16 non-European variants do not represent an additional factor associated with increased occurrence of high-grade cervical lesions in the studied population. Among the 106 HPV-16-positive women analyzed, E-350G was the most prevalent variant in all different disease stages, being present in 18% of cervical cancer, 13% of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade III (CIN III), 5% of CIN II, 5% of CIN I, and 20% of control samples. Mixed variants of HPV-16 infections were detected in 7.7% of the samples, mostly in women with normal cytology.

This study shows for the first time the diversity of HPV-16 variants in cervical samples of Honduran women.