GP5+/6+ SYBR Green methodology for simultaneous screening and quantification of human papillomavirus

BackgroundDetection and quantification of human papillomavirus (HPV) may help in predicting the evolution of HPV infection and progression of associated lesions.ObjectivesWe propose a novel protocol using consensus primers GP5+/6+ in a SYBR Green quantitative real-time (Q-RT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The strategy permits screening for HPV infection and viral load quantification simultaneously.Study designDNA from 153 archived cervical samples, previously tested for HPV detection by GP5+/6+ PCR and typed by EIA-RLB (enzyme immunoassay-reverse line blot) or sequence analysis, was analysed using SYBR Green Q-RT PCR. Melting temperature assay (Tm) and cycle threshold (Ct) were used to evaluate HPV positivity and viral load. The Tm in the range of 77–82 °C was considered to be positive for HPV-DNA. HPV results generated through GP5+/6+ conventional PCR were considered the gold standard against which sensitivity and specificity of our assay were measured.ResultsOut of 104 HPV positive samples, 100 (96.2%) were also determined as positive by SYBR Green Q-RT PCR; of the 49 HPV-negative samples, all were determined as negative. There was an excellent positivity agreement (κ = 0.94) between the SYBR Green Q-RT and the previous methods employed. The specificity and sensitivity were 100% and 96.2%, respectively. Comparison of SYBR Green Q-RT and TaqMan oligo-probe technologies gave an excellent concordance (ρc = 0.95) which validated the proposed strategy.ConclusionsWe propose a sensitive and easy-to-perform technique for HPV screening and viral load quantification simultaneously.