ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Study of viral integration of HPV-16 in young patients with LSIL

G Gallo¹, M Bibbo³, L Bagella¹, A Zamparelli¹, F Sanseverino⁴, M R Giovagnoli², A Vecchione⁵ and A Giordano¹

¹ Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, College of Science and Technology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
² Cytopathology, II School of Medicine "La Sapienza" University, 00100 Rome, Italy
³ Department of Pathology, Anatomy and Cell Biology, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
⁴ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy
⁵ II School of Medicine "La Sapienza" University, School of Specialisation of Oncology, 00161 Rome, Italy

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr G Gallo, College of Science and Technology, Temple University, BioLife Science Bldg Suite 333, 1900 N 12th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA;
gaia.gallo{at}spr-r.it

Aims: To investigate the physical status of human papillomavirus 16 (HPV-16) in low grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSILs) as a means of determining the percentage of viral integration.

Methods: Ninety two LSIL/HPV positive Thin Prep^TM samples were initially tested for the E6 gene by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to identify the HPV-16 virus. To avoid false positive results, the specificity of the bands obtained from PCR was confirmed by Southern blot hybridisation with internal oligonucleotide probes. Next, a PCR screen for the E2 gene was performed to identify those samples in which the virus was integrated. Viral integration was detected in just over half of them.

Results: Twenty of the 92 samples were HPV-16 positive, as shown by PCR for the E6 gene. Southern blot analysis confirmed that 13 of these samples were positive for the viral E6 gene. Thus, viral integration was detected in just over a half of the samples positive for HPV-16.

Conclusions: These data show that HPV-16 integration occurs in a subset of LSILs. The measurement of HPV-16 integration would be a helpful complementary tool for cytological evaluation in primary cervical screening to identify those patients at risk of developing high grade squamous intraepithelial lesions and cervical cancer.

Keywords: human papillomavirus 16; viral integration; low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion

Abbreviations: HPV, human papillomavirus; HSIL, high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion; LSIL, low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion; ORF, open reading frame; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; SCC, saline sodium citrate; SDS, sodium dodecyl sulfate

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Saunier, M., Monnier-Benoit, S., Mauny, F., Dalstein, V., Briolat, J., Riethmuller, D., Kantelip, B., Schwarz, E., Mougin, C., Pretet, J.-L. (2008). Analysis of Human Papillomavirus Type 16 (HPV16) DNA Load and Physical State for Identification of HPV16-Infected Women with High-Grade Lesions or Cervical Carcinoma. J. Clin. Microbiol. 46: 3678-3685 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Huang, L-W, Chao, S-L, Lee, B-H (2008). Integration of human papillomavirus type-16 and type-18 is a very early event in cervical carcinogenesis. J. Clin. Pathol. 61: 627-631 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Arias-Pulido, H., Peyton, C. L., Joste, N. E., Vargas, H., Wheeler, C. M. (2006). Human papillomavirus type 16 integration in cervical carcinoma in situ and in invasive cervical cancer.. J. Clin. Microbiol. 44: 1755-1762 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Kulmala, S-M A, Syrjanen, S M, Gyllensten, U B, Shabalova, I P, Petrovichev, N, Tosi, P, Syrjanen, K J, Johansson, B C (2006). Early integration of high copy HPV16 detectable in women with normal and low grade cervical cytology and histology. J. Clin. Pathol. 59: 513-517 [Abstract] [Full Text]