ABSTRACT
Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infections and cervical carcinoma which is associated with certain types of the virus have been worldwide public health issue. Early diagnosis of HPV infections and the detection of viral genotypes are important for the successful treatment and prevention of cervical carcinoma. This study has been designed as a preliminary study to estimate HPV type distribution in cervical samples with cytologic abnormalities in our country. A total of 35 cervical samples which were evaluated by a commercial liquid-based cytological system, were included to the study. The presence of HPV-DNA has been searched with nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) by using consensus primer sets of MY09/11 and GP5/6 that target L1 region of the viral genome. HPV typing was performed by direct sequencing of the amplicons. In cytologic evaluation, 14 samples were diagnosed as ASC-US (Aypical squamous cells of undetermined significance), three were ASC-H (Atypical squamous cells-cannot exclude HSIL), five were HSIL (High-grade intraepithelial lesion), seven were LSIL (Low-grade intraepithelial lesion), four were LSIL+suspected HSIL, one was AG-US (Aypical glandular cells of undetermined significance) and one was atypical cells of undefined nature. HPV-DNA was detected in 28 of the 35 (80%) samples, and sequence analysis revealed high-risk HPV types (type 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 56, 59) in 22 (78.6%) samples, probable high-risk types (type 53) in two (7.1%) samples and low-risk types (type 6, 54, 72, 81) in four (14.3%) samples. HPV type 16 emerged as the most frequently-detected type, comprising 50% (14/18) of all samples; followed by type 18 in 10.7% (3/28) and type 53 in 7.1% (2/28) of the samples. As a result, although the number of cervical samples were relatively low, the preliminary data obtained with this study revealed the HPV type distribution, however more detailed studies are needed to elucidate the epidemiology of HPV infections in Turkey.
