A review of methods for detect human Papillomavirusinfection

Table 1 Benefits and weaknesses of the molecular methods for HPV detection

Method	Benefits	Weaknesses
Nucleic acids hybridization assays	Southern blot is gold standard for HPV genomic analysis Presence of HPV in association with morphology	Low sensitivity , time consuming, relatively large amounts of purified DNA
		Southern blot and hybridization cannot use degraded DNA
Signal amplification assays	Quantitative	Licensed and patented technologies
	FDA-approved test (hc2)	Wasn’t designed to genotyping individual
	Lower false-positive rate
	High sensitivity to genotyping
Nucleic acids amplification assays	Flexible technology (viral load and genotype)	Lower amplification signals of some HPV genotypes
	Very high sensitivity	Contamination with previously amplified material can lead to false positives
	Multiplex analysis

HPV = Human Papillomavirus; FDA = Food and Drug Administration; hc2 = Hybrid Capture® 2; PCR = Polymerase Chain Reaction.

ISSN: 1743-422X