Comparison of the Tellgenplex HPV DNA test with the PCR-reverse dot blot assay for human papillomavirus genotyping

ABSTRACT

Objective: To access the performance of the Tellgenplex human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA test compared to the polymerase chain reaction-reverse dot blot (PCR-RDB) assay for the HPV genotyping. Methods: Sixty cervical swab samples were genotyped by the Tellgenplex HPV DNA test and the PCR-RDB assay. The Tellgenplex HPV DNA test and the PCR-RDB assay can detect 26 and 23 HPV genotypes, respectively. Each sample showed discrepancy was genotyped using sequencing. Results: The percent agreement between the two tests ranged from 83.3% to 100.0% according to different genotype. This showed perfect agreement (>0.81) for high-risk HPV genotypes (35, 39, 45, 53, 56, 59, 66, 68, and 82), substantial agreement (>0.65) for high-risk HPV genotypes (16, 18, 33, 52, and 58) and low-risk HPV genotype 43 between the two assays by the kappa analysis. The positive rates of the two assays for frequent HPV genotypes (16, 35, 39, 45, 52, 53, 58, 59, 66, and 82) were not statistically different, but the PCR-RDB assay showed higher positive rates than the Tellgenplex HPV DNA test for HPV genotypes 81 (P<0.05). As for more than 10 positive results by the Tellgenplex HPV DNA test and/or the PCR-RDB assay, the PCR-RDB assay showed higher relative sensitivity and specificity than the Tellgenplex HPV DNA test for the three HPV genotypes (16, 52, and 81). All HPV genotypes that can be detected by only the Tellgenplex HPV DNA test (HPV genotypes 44 and 55) were confirmed by sequencing. Conclusions: In conclusion, our results demonstrated that the PCR-RDB assay which can detect more multiple HPV genotypes in each specimen shows higher relative sensitivity and specificity than the Tellgenplex HPV DNA test, which makes it a better option for routine clinical use.