Detection of Human Papillomavirus in Male and Female Urine by Electrochemical DNA Chip and PCR Sequencing

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in Thai women after breast cancer. Currently,the Papanicolaou (Pap) smear is the recommended procedure for cervical cancer screening in Thailand, butonly a relatively small percentage of women follow this screening program. An alternative method to detectHPV genotypes associated with cervical cancer is self-sampling of urine, which is a more widely acceptedmethod. Our study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of HPV in Thai women using urine and cervical swabsand prevalence of HPV in Thai men using urine samples. Materials and <br/><b>Methods</b>: Tumorigenic HPV detectionwas accomplished by electrochemical DNA chip and PCR/direct sequencing. In addition to HPV prevalence,we report the concordance between different methods and sample types. One-hundred and sixteen women and100 men were recruited. Histological examination revealed normal cytology in 52 women, atypical squamouscells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) in 9, low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL) in 24, andhigh-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) in 31. One-hundred men were classified as heterosexuals(n=45) and homosexuals (n=55). <br/><b>Results</b>: The most prevalent HPV genotype in our study was HPV16. The HPVdetection rate was generally lower in urine samples compared with cervical samples. Overall, there was goodagreement for the detection of carcinogenic HPV from female cervical samples between the DNA chip and PCR/sequencing, with 88.8% total agreement and a kappa value of 0.76. In male urine samples, the level of agreementwas higher in heterosexuals compared with homosexuals. <br/><b>Conclusions</b>: Further improvement is required toincrease an overall yield of HPV DNA detection in urine samples before clinical application of a urine-basedHPV screening program. The electrochemical DNA chip test is a promising technique for carcinogenic HPVdetection.