Human Papillomavirus Genotyping among Different Cervical Smears in Duhok/Iraq

Document Type : Research Articles

Authors

1 Department of Pathology,College of Medicine, University of Duhok, Iraq.

2 Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, University of Duhok, Iraq.

Abstract

Background/Objective: Cervical cancer ranks the second among the most common gynecologic cancers. This study
was established to determine the distribution of cervical HPV genotypes among different Pap readings in Duhok/Iraq.
Methods: Between January and September-2016, HPV-DNA was tested in 64 women. Genotyping was carried out by
the hybridization reverse blot technique. Cervical smears were taken, performed by ThinPrep technique and stained by
Pap stain. Results: Twenty six (40.6%) cases were positive for HPV, 12 (46.2%) in normal and 14 (53.8%) in abnormal
Pap smears. 39 (19 high-risk and 16 low-risk) genotypes were identified. The high risk group comprised 6 HPV16, 4
HPV18, 2 HPV66, 2 HPV52, 2 HPV39, 1 HPV56, 1 HPV31 and 1 HPV45. The 16 low risk strains encompassed 4
HPV6 strains, 4 HPV71, 2 HPV54 and 2 HPV83, HPV11, HPV61 HPV84, and HPV62. Mixed infections were described
in 4 women (6.25%), limited to the NILM, ASC-US and LSIL smears. They included variable admixtures of 7 high
risk genotypes, HPV39 (both copies), HPV66 (both copies), HPV52, HPV31, HPV45 and 6 low risk strains: HPV83,
HPV6, HPV11, HPV54, HPV62 and HPV71. Conclusions: The higher frequency of HR-HPV than the LR-HPV with
identification of 4 mixed cases indicates that our women are at risk of developing cervical cancer. Detection of HR-HPV
in NILM and ASC-US smears with restriction of some strains to these 2 categories highlights the great value of HPV
genotyping as a surrogate test to pick up unscreened women at risk of developing cervical malignancy particularly
when a proper screening program is absent.

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