Human papillomavirus types 16 and 18 sequences in early cervical neoplasia

A total of 100 colposcopic biopsies from patients with abnormal Papanicolau's tests were surveyed for the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 sequences by spot-blot hybridization. HPV 16 and 18 DNA sequences were detected in 58% of the biopsies. None of the cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade I (CIN I) contained HPV 16 while 50% of the CIN III lesions (carcinoma in situ, CIS) contained HPV 16. HPV 18-related sequences were equally represented in CIN I, II, and III. Southern-blot hybridization of total undigested cellular DNA revealed the presence of HPV DNA sequences only in an episomal form. While the restriction enzyme patterns in HPV 16-positive samples were mostly identical to the originally cloned sequence, the restriction enzyme pattern for HPV 18-positive samples were different from that of HPV 18 but identical to each other. Furthermore, this DNA hybridized more strongly to HPV 18 under nonstringent conditions, suggesting a new type.