Rapid Detection And Genotyping Of Human Papillomavirus In Patients With Vulvar Leukoplakia

Aim: Human papillomavirus - a small DNA virus without membrane, which can survive in epithelia of skin, genitals and respiratory tracts in human - is the etiological agent for many benign or malignant lesions. The aim of this experiment is to establish the correlation between the infection of human papillomavirus and occurrence of vulvar leukoplakia.Methods: A reverse hybridization blot probe assay was used. Six sequence-specific oligonucleotides of HPV DNA (type 6, 11, 16, 18, 31 and 33) were used as specific probes and were fixed separately on a strip of nylonmembrane, which can be used to hybridize with the PCR-amplified target DNA sequences, so that we can detect and identify any one or some of the 6 types of HPV on the same strip. Paraffin sections of 58 patients with vulvar leukoplakia were tested for the presence of HPV by this assay and a general-primer based PCR.Results: 22 out of 58 (37.9%) specimens tested were positive for HPV DNA by PCR, of which 7 were positive for HPV6 (31.8%), SforHPVll (22.7%), 2 for HPV6/11 (mixed type) (9.1%), 10forHPV16 (45.5%), IforHPVIS (4.5%), 0 for HPVS 1, 1 for HPV33 (4.5%). 35.3% of the hyperplastic type, 40.0% of the atrophic type and 44.4%of the mixed type were positive for HPV DNA. Among all the specimens, 45.5% were positive for low-risk type HPVs (HPV6, 11, 6/11), 54.5% were positive for high-risk typeHPVs (HPV 16, 18, 31, 33 )o By statistics analysis, there is marked relativity between the pathogeny of vulvar leukoplakia and HPVs (P<0.01).Conclusion: The infection of human papillomavirus may play a role in the occurrence of vulvar leukoplakia.