Assessing the effectiveness of a cervical cancer screening program in a hospital-based study.

To study the microbiological contamination of kitchen dishcloths in Chinese housholds, 1010 'in-use' kitchen dishcloths were collected from residential premises in Beijing and Shanghai, and they were sent to the laboratory for microbiological quality analysis. The aerobic plate counts for dishcloths were 10-109 cfu/cm2 in the range of 150 cfu/cm2 to 1.776×109 cfu/cm2 (Beijing) and 62.5 cfu/cm2 to 8.75×108 cfu/cm2 (Shanghai). Nineteen species of bacteria were detected in the dishcloths, most of which were conditional pathogenic bacteria. This study found a significant difference in the aerobic plate counts of dishcloths with regard to type, number of the days used, activities used for, and some family factors. The findings of the study highlight the potential for contamination of kitchen dishcloths within homes.

Comparison of human papillomavirus detection and genotyping with four different prime sets by PCR-sequencing.

OBJECTIVE: To assess and compare the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) detection efficiency and the potential clinical utility of PCR sequencing-based technology. METHODS: Four HPV consensus primer sets (GP5+/6+, MGP, MY09/11, and PGMY09/11) were used in order to amplify a broad spectrum of HPV types for HPV infection in 325 cervical samples and the PCR products were sequenced afterwards for the HPV genotyping. RESULTS: The HPV-positive rate was 75.4%, of which 35.5% harbored more than one HPV genotype. A total of 36 different genotypes was found, with HPV 16 (24.1%) being the most prevalent, followed by HPV 58 (13.3%) and HPV 52 (9.6%). There were substantial to almost perfect agreements between different primer sets regarding HPV detection efficiency, with the kappa value varying from 0.751 to 0.925, MGP, and PGMY09/11 were the most effective in detecting multiple infections (P < 0.001). With each of the primer sets, a board range of HPV types could be identified, though there were several differences for a few genotypes. CONCLUSION: The substantial agreement between PCR-sequencing and HC2 for the detection of high-risk HPV (kappa=0.761) indicated that PCR-sequencing is also suitable for routine HPV screening.

[Viral load, genomic integration frequency of human papillomavirus 16 in cervical cancer and precancerous lesions].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between viral load, genomic integration frequency of HPV 16 and cervical carcinogenesis and assess the probability that HPV 16 integration frequency may be utilized as a marker for cervical cancer. METHODS: Forty cases of HPV16 single infection were selected from 337 cervical scrape samples by PCR (polymerase chain reaction) amplification and DNA sequencing. The copy numbers of E2, E6 and ß-actin were quantified to evaluate the viral load and integration status by real-time PCR. RESULTS: (1) The median number of adjusted viral load of normal group, LSIL (low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion) group, HSIL (high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion) group and squamous cervical cancer group were 0.11, 18.55, 44.63 and 7.6 copies per cell respectively. The viral load was higher in LSIL-HSIL group than that in normal group while lower in squamous cervical cancer group than that in HSIL group. (2) The median number of E2/E6 was 0.93 in normal group, 0.84 in precancerous group (LSIL-HSIL) and 0.64 in squamous cervical cancer group respectively. It showed a descending trend with the progression of cervical disease. (3) With the disease development, the proportion of episomal form decreased (normal group 4/5, LSIL group 4/6, HSIL group 10/16, cervical squamous cancer group 5/13) whereas that of integrated form (mixed and totally integrated) increased (normal group 1/5, LSIL group 2/6, HSIL group 6/16, cervical squamous cancer group 8/13). Both totally integrated cases were cervical squamous cancer. CONCLUSION: (1) HPV 16 viral load may not be an ideal marker to predict cervical carcinogenesis. (2) Due to a positive correlation between HPV16 genomic integration frequency and cervical neoplastic progression, HPV 16 integration frequency may be a potential marker of early diagnosis for cervical lesion progression.