Cervical samples dried on filter paper and dried vaginal tampons can be useful to investigate the circulation of high-risk HPV in Congo.

BACKGROUND: High-risk HPV (HR-HPV) are associated with the development of cervical cancer, the most common cancer in women in developing countries. Reliable diagnosis of HR-HPV infection combined with simple procedures to collect and store biological samples, could improve primary screening programs and vaccine strategies in these areas. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate HR-HPV detection in conventional and dried samples. STUDY DESIGN: The presence of HR-HPV in 31 women in Republic of Congo (Central Africa) has been investigated by using standard cervical samples and dried cervical samples collected on filter paper and vaginal tampons. The detection of HPV DNA was performed in the Laboratory of virology in Lille (France) by using Hybrid capture 2 and HPV 16/18/45 Probe Set Test. RESULTS: 22 standard samples were found positive for the detection of HR-HPV (71%). HPV 16/18/45 was displayed in 15 out of 22 samples positive for HR-HPV (68%). The correlations between HPV detection by using standard samples and samples dried on filter paper and dried tampons were 90.3% (kappa = 0.77) and 80.6% (kappa = 0.5) respectively. The sensitivity and the specificity of HPV detection reached 91% and 89%, respectively, with samples dried on filter paper and were 86% and 67%, respectively, for dried tampons compared with standard samples. CONCLUSION: Dried cervical samples and dried vaginal tampons can represent an alternative to conventional sampling to reduce barriers to large screening programs in developing countries and to facilitate storage and transport to reference centers.

Human milk can neutralize Coxsackievirus B4 in vitro.

The role of enteroviruses in type 1 diabetes has long been suspected. A lower risk of type 1 diabetes is associated with breastfeeding, which could be due to a protective effect against enteroviruses. The neutralizing activity of breast milk against CVB4, a representative of enteroviruses was investigated in this study in vitro. Breast milk was cytotoxic to Hep-2 cells up to a dilution of 1/32, whereas the aqueous fraction obtained after centrifugation was not cytotoxic; although it inhibited the cytopathic effect of CVB4 on Hep-2 cell monolayers. The anti-CVB4 neutralizing activity of aqueous fractions of breast milk from 49 donors living in Northern France and 15 donors living in Congo, where enteroviral infections are more prevalent, were determined. The levels of colostrum activity expressed as titre ranged from <2 to 32 in 36% of the donors from France whereas they were >128 in every donor from Congo. Pasteurized colostrum had a lower anti-CVB4 activity compared to fresh samples (P < 0.0001, n = 49). The treatment of colostrum samples with jacalin-coated beads that bind specifically to human IgA, showed that IgA plays a role in anti-CVB4 activity. There was no correlation between the neutralizing activities of breast milk and serum (P = 0.37, n = 25). The current study showed that the variations in anti-CVB4 activity in breast milk can be attributed to environmental and living conditions. Whether a low protective activity of breast milk against enteroviruses expose newborns to a higher risk of type 1 diabetes deserves further investigation.