Detection of human papillomavirus in juvenile laryngeal papillomatosis using polymerase chain reaction

We examined the presence and subtypes of human papillomavirus (HPV) in 20 paraffin-embedded samples (from 12 patients) of juvenile laryngeal papillomatosis using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The biopsies had been stored for months to 12 years. Due to the great genetic variability of HPV, we selected a conservative sequence of the viral genome (L1 region) to identify the vast majority of the subtypes. Positive results were obtained by one-step PCR amplification with the MY09-11 consensus primers (L1 region) in only 10 of the cases. After a two-step amplification (nested-PCR) with GP5-6 primers the 20 samples proved to be positive demonstrating the higher sensitivity of this method. In order to amplify a highly variable region of the genome (E6), specific primers for HPV types 6 and 11 (H6/11 L1-R2) were used. 7/12 patients were positive for this subtype. Since more that one subtype has been reported in the same sample, the presence of HPV 6-11 sequences does not exclude that other subtypes might be involved. The results of this study show that: 1) HPV is present in JLP. 2) The most frequent HPV subtype involved was from the 6-11 group. 3) PCR can be successfully used in archived tissue routinely processed in a laboratory of pathology.