Human papillomavirus viral load in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia as a prognostic factor in a Mexican population

Persistent infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) has been recognized as the main etiological factor of morbimortality in cervical cancer. Several factors have been associated with the development of cervical disease, but viral load has recently been proposed as an indicator of cervical neoplasia. Therefore, a single measurement of viral load could be a suitable biomarker. We examined HPV viral load as a prognostic biomarker of cervical neoplasia. We used cervical scrapes to determine the total HPV viral load of 46 Mexican patients with various stages of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) using hybrid capture assay coupled with a quantitative polymerase chain reaction method for cellularity estimation. Viral load values of CIN2 and CIN3 samples were compared with samples without cervical pathology (WP); all values of viral load were normalized by number of cells analyzed. The analysis showed significant differences in viral load between CIN2 and WP samples (P = 0.01) and between CIN3 and WP samples (P = 0.02). By contrast, no significant difference was detected between viral loads in CIN2 and CIN3 samples. The results showed significant difference between viral loads in CIN2 and CIN3 samples and that in WP samples. HPV viral load was significantly different between patients with CIN2-CIN3 and those with WP and can be used as a predictor of lesions.