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Evaluation of human papillomavirus DNA detection in samples obtained for routine Chlamydia trachomatis screening
Anna Söderlund-Strand1, Arne Wikström2, Joakim Dillner3
1Division of Laboratory Medicine, Department of Clinical Microbiology, Jan Waldenströms gata 59, 20502 Malmö, Sweden.
Background:
The costs and logistics involved in obtaining samples is a bottleneck in large-scale studies of the circulation of human papillomavirus (HPV), which are useful for monitoring and optimisation of HPV-vaccination programs. Residual samples obtained after screening for Chlamydia trachomatis could constitute a convenient, low-cost solution.
Objectives:
We evaluated HPV DNA detection and typing using (i) the residual samples routinely taken for C. trachomatis screening or (ii) the sample types used in large-scale phase III HPV vaccination trials (cervical, vulvar, labial, perineal, perianal, scrotal and penile shaft samples).
Study Design:
Samples from 127 men and 110 women attending two sexual health clinics were analysed using PCR for HPV DNA, with typing using mass spectrometry.
Results:
The HPV DNA prevalence was 7.1% in male urine samples, but 57.3% in female urine/vaginal samples, which was even higher than the HPV prevalence found in cervical samples (54.1%). The sensitivity for HPV DNA detection in the urine/vaginal samples was 7.9% (95% CI 3.0-16.4) for men and 78.9% (95% CI 67.6-87.7) for women, using detection in any one of the reference samples as reference. With cervical samples as reference, the sensitivity was 89.3 % (95% CI 78.1-95.9).
Conclusions:
Among men, low sensitivity of urine for HPV detection suggests limited usefulness. Among women, the high sensitivity of urine/vaginal samples for HPV detection suggests a useful low-cost solution for the study of HPV epidemiology.
