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Use of Interferon-γ Enzyme-linked Immunospot Assay to Characterize Novel T-cell Epitopes of Human Papillomavirus
Published on: March 8, 2012
Human papillomavirus detection in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia by the second-generation hybrid capture
I Nindl1, A Lörincz, I Mielzynska
1Department of Gynecology, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany. nindl@bach.med.uni-jena.de
Background:
The second generation Hybrid Capture microplate-based human papillomavirus (HPV) test (HC II) was examined to determine its sensitivity for identification of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) by two different cervical specimen collection methods.
Objectives:
A cohort of 115 women with a mean age of 34.6 years (SD 9.1), referred to colposcopy with a history of abnormal cytology, was studied to compare HPV prevalence and viral load in low grade CIN vs. high grade CIN.
Study Design:
Prior to the application of acetic acid, cervical specimens were obtained by either method 1 or 2, as follows: method 1: A cotton-tipped swab was applied to the ectocervix and endocervix for a Papanicolaou (Pap) smear. Next, a special cone-shaped cervical brush was applied to the endocervix, the ectocervix, and to the posterior vaginal vault and suspended in 1.0 ml of transport medium for HPV testing. Method 2: a Pap smear was taken with a cyto standard cylindrical cytology brush from the endocervix, and ectocervix, and the remaining cells were suspended in 3 ml phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for HPV testing. Next, a Dacron-tipped swab was used to take a specimen from the ectocervix and posterior fornix and suspended in the same PBS solution.

