Associations between high risk human papillomavirus infection and cervical cytological and histological changes

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the most common sexually transmitted disease. The major risk factor for precancerous cervical lesions and cervical cancer is the persistance of the high risk (HR) HPV infection. For the last decade, the scientists have shown the great considerations not only for the detection and persistance of HR HPV infection, but also for the possible correlations between the HR HPV viral load and cervical lesions. The data are very controversial. HR HPV viral load might be the reason for the persistance and clearance of the infection. Objective. To evaluate the prevalence of HR HPV infection in women with cervical intraepithelial changes and the correlations between the viral load and cervical intraepithelial changes. In particular we aimed to evaluate (1) the prevalence of HR HPV and 16/18/45 HPV genotypes infection in women with cytological and histological changes in different age groups; (2) the correlations of cytological and histological results of HR HPV positive and 16/18/45 HPV genotypes positive women; (3) the correlations of HR HPV viral load and 16/18/45 HPV genotypes viral load with cervical cytological and histological changes; (4) the sensitivity and specificity of HC2 and 16/18/45 HPV test viral load in diagnosing cervical cytological and histological changes