Prevalence and genotype distribution of human papillomavirus in non-neoplastic cervical tissue lesion: cervical...

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the commonest sexually transmitted infection, which is associated with various clinical conditions, ranging from asymptomatic infection to malignant disease of the cervix. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and genotypic distribution of HPV in women with cervical erosion and to compare the results with those in women with a clinically normal cervix. A further aim was to establish the association between HPV infection and cervical cytology results in women with and without cervical erosion. Cervical samples were collected by liquid-based method and consecutively evaluated for the presence of HPV DNA and for cervical cytology. HPV DNA was tested by a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and typed by reverse dot blot genotyping. Cytological classification was made according to Bethesda 2001 criteria. The overall HPV prevalence was 16.9%; HPV DNA was positive in 20.2% of women with cervical erosion and 12.8% in women with normal cervix (P < 0.05). Multiple infections were found in 34.1% of the HPV-positive women. Commonest types were HPV 18 (32.9%), HPV 16 (29.5%), HPV 54 (20.5%), and HPV 6 (17%). Cervical cytology results were abnormal for 5.2% of women with cervical erosion and for 1.3% with clinically normal cervix (P < 0.05). This study detected a high prevalence of HPV infection in women with cervical erosion compared to women with a normal cervix. This data may contribute to the HPV epidemiology in the southeastern Turkey. It is recommended that women with cervical erosion should be given priority in HPV screening programs.