[The diagnosis of genital papillomavirus infections using molecular hybridization]

Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are non-cultivable, small ADN viruses, of which about sixty different types are known at present. They infect specifically the stratified epithelium and are responsible for skin lesions (warts) and mucous lesions (condylomata). Their presence can probably be associated with the possible development of genital neoplasia. They cannot be detected by culture and it is at present impossible to reveal their presence by specific antigens. However, the presence of their genome in the infected cells can be detected by hybridization with the use of marked nucleic probes, Southern-blot (method of reference), dot-blot, quicker but less specific, or hybridization in situ which enables the assessment of the histopathological environment. Finally, the very sensitive technique of enzymatic amplification of the genes (Polymerase Chain Reaction-PCR) could become a method of choice for the detection of HPV. These techniques of molecular biology have shown that genital HPV infections are widely spread, but the markers necessary to determine the risk of neoplastic degeneration are yet to be discovered.