Prevalence of human papillomavirus infection among women at a gynaecological clinic in Tlemcen, Algeria.

High-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) is recognized as the etiologic agent responsible for cervical cancer, ranking as the second most prevalent cancer among women in Algeria with an incidence rate of 10.4 per 100,000. The primary aim of this study was to conduct a preliminary prospective investigation into the detection of HR-HPV infections in Tlemcen, Algeria, where screening is exclusively based on cytology. A total of 130 cervical swabs were analysed in this study. HPV detection was performed utilizing the Cobas® 4800 test, incorporating polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for individual genotyping of HPV-16 and HPV-18, as well as pooled detection of 12 other commonly occurring HPVs. The findings revealed that out of the 130 samples, 28 tested positive for HR-HPV, resulting in a prevalence rate of 21.5%. Among these cases, five infections demonstrated the coexistence of HPV16 with other HR-HPV genotypes. The prevalence of HPV16 infections was determined to be 28.6% (8/28), whereas 68% of infections (19/28) were attributed to other HR-HPV genotypes. These observations indicate that HPV16 was not the prevailing genotype. Consequently, these results underscore the necessity for a larger-scale study with an expanded sample size encompassing cytology and HPV testing. Such an investigation would be invaluable in facilitating the development of a national prevention program to effectively control cervical cancer.

Influence of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T gene polymorphisms in Algerian infertile men with azoospermia or severe oligozoospermia.

AIMS: The C677T allele of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene has been suggested to represent a risk factor for male infertility. To confirm this association, the distribution of the single-nucleotide polymorphism C677T was investigated in idiopathic infertile Algerian patients with nonobstructive azoospermia (NOA) or severe oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT). A case-control study was carried out, including 74 idiopathic infertile Algerian patients with NOA (n=46) or severe OAT (n=28) and 84 fertile men as controls. Polymorphism C677T was studied by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism, and the results were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: The frequency of genotypes MTHFR 677CC, 677CT, and 677TT in idiopathic infertile men with NOA was 43.48%, 41.30%, and 15.22%; 39.29%, 50%, and 10.71% regarding the severe oligozoospermic men; and 42.86%, 45.24%, and 11.90% in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that the C677T MTHFR polymorphism is not a risk factor for idiopathic male subfertility in an Algerian population.