Menstrual Blood Human Papillomavirus16 DNA Quantitation in Patients with Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia or Condyloma Acuminatum

Abstract

Objective: To quantitate the human papillomavirus16 (HPV16) DNA copy numbers in menstrual blood of patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and condyloma acuminatum.
Methods: HPV16 DNA–positive menstrual blood specimens were collected from 27 patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or condyloma acuminatum, who attended the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong from 2007 to 2009. Two menstrual blood HPV16 DNA–positive sexually active apparently normal subjects were also included as controls. Primers and Taqman minor groove binder probes were designed and validated before using them to measure the HPV16 DNA copy number in menstrual blood specimens. Moreover, the median menstrual blood β-actin copy numbers from 29 menstrual blood HPV16 DNA–positive specimens were used to normalise the corresponding menstrual blood HPV16 DNA copy numbers from the same batch of specimens.
Results: The normalised menstrual blood HPV16 DNA copy numbers were significantly increased from apparently normal subjects to cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 3 (p<0.0001, Spearman rank correlation test).

Conclusion: Normalised menstrual blood HPV16 DNA copy numbers are a potential non-invasive marker of highgrade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.