In pregnant women with HIV-1 infection the level of plasma HIV-1 RNA predicts the risk but not the timing of transmission of HIV-1 to their infants.

The Roche PGMY primer-based research prototype line blot assay (PGMY-LB) is a convenient tool in epidemiological studies for the detection and typing of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA. This assay has been optimized and is being commercialized as the Linear Array HPV genotyping test (LA-HPV). We assessed the agreement between LA-HPV and PGMY-LB for detection and typing of 37 HPV genotypes in 528 anogenital samples ( Infection by human papillomavirus (HPV) causes squamous intraepithelial lesions and invasive cancer of the uterine cervix and anus (3). HPV testing relies on the detection and analysis of viral DNA. Epidemiological studies and vaccine clinical trials require reliable and reproducible identification and genotyping of genital HPV infections. Since only a fraction of the 40 HPV genotypes infecting the anogenital tract are associated with malignant lesions, the detection method has to identify types individually. Specific genotyping also provides information on mixed HPV infections (26). Type-specific PCR assays are impractical for epidemiological studies because of the multiplicity of relevant genotypes infecting the anogenital tract. Consensus PCR assays that target conserved regions of the HPV genome have been devised to amplify all relevant genital types in one reaction, with analysis of amplicons by direct sequencing, restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, or type-specific hybridization.The most common PCR methods use the consensus primer set MY09/MY11/HMB01 (20, 25), GP5ϩ/GP6ϩ (9, 21), PGMY09/ PGMY11 (13,34), or SPF10 (30,34). Convenient assays for detection and typing of HPV have been developed for all of these primer sets. HPV amplicons generated by PGMY or MY primers can easily be detected and typed by a nonisotopic

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A reliable phylogeny relating the major groups of Galliformes was sought in order to shed light on an unusual case of coupled amino acid replacements in the lysozymes c of these birds. The New World quail and the African guinea fowl share a unique trio of amino acids at three internal positions but have been separated phylogenetically by the majority of trees based on morphological characters. Alternative hypotheses based on molecular data have suggested an arrangement that would be more parsimonious with regard to the lysozyme data. The entire mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (1,143 bp) was amplified via the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequenced for nine galliforms and a representative anseriform to provide DNA sequence data for a phylogenetic reconstruction. The mode and tempo of change in these sequences were analyzed to determine the characters most appropriate for phylogenetic reconstruction. Our results place the New World quail outside all other representative game birds except the cracids. Although in conflict with various morphological analyses, this finding is consistent with the results of DNA-DNA hybridization studies. A model to account for the coupled replacements in the lysozymes is presented. Our results also suggest a rapid but ancient radiation among the Galliformes such that the majority of cytochrome b sequence differences among taxa have accumulated on the terminal branches of the reconstructed phylogenetic trees.

Infection with a group of high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPV) has been identified as the cause of cervical cancer; thus, high-risk HPV testing is being incorporated into cervical cancer screening to improve cervical cancer prevention. Recently released U.S. guidelines recommend cotesting with HPV assays and cytology (1) as an alternative to the use of cytology alone. Moreover, primary stand-alone HPV testing is being introduced in multiple regions (2), including the United States (3). As a major advantage, HPV testing is more sensitive than cytology alone, and a negative HPV test result provides prolonged reassurance against cervical cancer, permitting the safe lengthening of screening intervals (4, 5).As a disadvantage, HPV testing is less specific than cytology, and optimal management is unclear for some of the nonnormal cytology/HPV combined results that occur with HPV testing, whether in the context of cotesting or primary HPV testing followed by cytology triage of HPV-positive women (6, 7). One prominent issue, that of HPV-positive/cytology-negative results, i.e., the finding of positive HPV test results when cytology result is negative, is common in absolute terms. For example, HPV-positive/cytology-negative results were found in nearly 4% of the cotest results in a recent large series of approximately 1 million women age 30 to 64 years at Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) (8, 9).The decision of how to manage HPV-positive/cytology-negative results is not straightforward. Recently, U.S. consensus guideline groups have issued recommended management strategies based on comparisons of the risks of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 (CIN3) or cancer (CIN3ϩ, including adenocarcinoma in situ). These consensus guidelines form the basis for the consistent management of women with similar risks. Specifically, for women with HPV-positive/cytology-negative results, the attendant risk is not quite high enough for immediate colposcopy (1, 10). In comparison, immediate colposcopy is recommended for cytologically evident HPV infection (HPV-positive atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance [ASC-US] or lowgrade squamous intraepithelial lesion [LSIL]) (10). Cytologically evident HPV infection confers a 5-year risk of CIN3ϩ that is only slightly higher than that for HPV-positive/cytology-negative results. However, referring all women with HPV-positive/cytologynegative results would more than double the number of colposcopic procedures, and many of those women would not yet have colposcopically diagnosable lesions (8).Thus, the guidelines recommend managing HPV-positive/cy-

The novel PGMY L1 consensus primer pair is more sensitive than the MY09 and MY11 primer mix for detection and typing with PCR of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA in genital specimens. We assessed the diagnostic yield of PGMY primers for the detection and typing of HPV by comparing the results obtained with PGMY09/PGMY11 and MY09/MY11/HMB01 on 299 genital samples. Amplicons generated with PGMY primers were typed with the line blot assay (PGMY-line blot), while HPV amplicons obtained with the degenerate primer pool MY09/MY11/HMB01 were detected with type-specific radiolabeled probes in a dot blot assay (standard consensus PCR test). Cervicovaginal lavage samples (N ‫؍‬ 272) and cervical scrape samples (N ‫؍‬ 27) were tested in parallel with both PCR tests. The PGMY-line blot test detected the presence of HPV DNA more frequently than the standard consensus PCR assay. The concordance for HPV typing between the two assays was 84.3% (214 of 255 samples), for a good kappa value of 0.69. Of the 177 samples containing HPV DNA by at least one method, 40 samples contained at least one HPV type detected only with PGMY-line blot, whereas positivity exclusively with the standard consensus PCR test was found for only 7 samples (P < 0.001). HPV types 45 and 52 were especially more frequently detected with PGMY than MY primers. However, most HPV types were better amplified with PGMY primers, including HPV-16. Samples with discordant results between the two PCR assays more frequently contained multiple HPV types. Studies using PGMY instead of MY primers have the potential to report higher detection rates of HPV infection not only for newer HPV types but also for well-known genital types.Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a very strong and independent predictor of the presence of squamous intraepithelial lesions and invasive cancer of the uterine cervix (14,30,34). Most HPV infections in women are transient and only a minority of women infected with HPV develop persistent infection that may evolve into squamous intraepithelial lesions (10, 13, 21, 27). The 40 HPV genotypes that infect the anogenital tract of men and women are classified into low-risk and high-risk categories based on their association with malignant lesions and phylogenetic relationships (9,14,30,35,36).The modest sensitivity level of HPV detection methods used in initial studies on the natural history and determinants of HPV infection resulted in misclassification of HPV infection status. As a consequence of misclassification of individuals, conflicting results from various studies have been reported. This problem was resolved in the 1990s by using nucleic acid amplification assays, mainly PCR (6,12). Because of the genetic diversity of genital HPVs, the use of type-specific PCR assays is impractical for epidemiological studies for which accurate HPV typing is essential (1). Consensus PCR assays have been devised to amplify most relevant genital types in one reaction and also detect novel HPV genotypes.Three assays target conserved sequences in the HPV L1 gene...

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the main etiologic agent of anogenital cancers, including cervical cancer, but little is known about the type-specific prevalence of HPV in men. Participants were men aged 18-70 years attending a sexually transmitted disease clinic. Penile skin swabs were assessed for HPV DNA using polymerase chain reaction with reverse line-blot genotyping. Of 436 swabs collected, 90.1% yielded sufficient DNA for HPV analysis. Men with inadequate swab samples were significantly more likely to be white and circumcised than men with adequate swab samples. The prevalence of HPV was 28.2%. Oncogenic HPV types were found in 12.0% of participants, nononcogenic types were found in 14.8% of participants, multiple types were found in 6.1% of participants, and unknown types were found in 5.9% of participants. The most prevalent subtypes were nononcogenic 6, 53, and 84. HPV positivity was not associated with age. These results indicate that HPV infection among men at high risk is common but that characteristics of male HPV infection may differ from those of female infection.Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the necessary, sexually transmitted cause of invasive cervical cancer and its precursor lesion, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia [1][2][3]. HPV has also been closely linked with other anogenital cancers, including anal cancer and certain penile cancers [4][5][6]. HPV infection in men is over- whelmingly subclinical, which has resulted in a potentially large number of asymptomatic carriers who serve as reservoirs and vectors for the virus.Although HPV has been studied extensively in women, data on male infection are limited. Studies of HPV in men are necessary to improve our understanding of HPV transmission and HPV-related carcinogenesis and to prevent disease in both men and women. The success of future cancer prevention strategies, such as prophylactic HPV vaccination, will be limited without a basic epidemiological understanding of HPV in men.Earlier studies of papillomavirus infection in men used a variety of clinical and histological techniques to establish a diagnosis of HPV, but polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has emerged as the most sensitive method available for the detection of latent HPV [7][8][9]. Among studies that have used PCR to detect penile HPV DNA in healthy men, sampling methodologies have been inconsistent. Nonetheless, results from these diverse investigations have suggested that penile HPV in sexually active men is at least as prevalent as cervical HPV is among women [10][11][12][13][14][15].HPV prevalence in men has been shown to vary by

Large studies of genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in men are few and mainly include high-risk groups. We interviewed 779 men who requested a vasectomy in 27 public clinics in 14 states of Mexico. Exfoliated cells were obtained from the scrotum, the shaft of the penis, the top of the penis including the coronal sulcus, the glans and the opening of the meatus. HPV testing was performed using biotinylated L1 consensus primers and reverse line blot. Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) of being HPV-positive and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The prevalence of any type of HPV was 8.7%. HPV positivity was highest among men below age 25 (13.6%), and lowest among men aged 40 years or older (6.0%). The most commonly found HPV types were, in decreasing order, HPV59, 51, 6, 16 and 58. Lifetime number of sexual partners was associated with HPV positivity (OR for 4 vs. 1 partner 5 3.7, 95% CI: 2.0-6.8), mainly on account of the strong association with number of occasional and sex-worker partners. Condom use with both regular (OR 5 0.4, 95% CI: 0.1-1.0) and sex-worker (OR 5 0.1, 95% CI: 0.0-0.3) partners and circumcision (OR 5 0.2, 95% CI: 0.1-0.4) were inversely associated with HPV positivity. HPV prevalence in Mexican men was similar to the prevalence found in Mexican women of the same age groups. The association between HPV positivity and lifetime number of sexual partners in the present low-risk male population is one of the strongest ever reported in studies in men. Condom use and circumcision were associated with a strong reduction in HPV prevalence. ' 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Key words: human papillomavirus; men; Mexico; sexual habits; condom use Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, the necessary cause of invasive cervical cancer and its precursor lesions, 1 is a very common sexually transmitted disease in women in many populations. 2 HPV infection in men causes genital warts, 3 and is associated with HPV infection 4,5 and cervical cancer 6,7 in female partners.Previous studies on genital HPV infection in men showed an approximately equal prevalence of HPV infection in any population in the 2 genders, 8 and the existence of a direct, though moderate, association between HPV positivity among men and lifetime number of sexual partners. 9,10 However, contrary to the relatively large amount of information on genital HPV infection in women, 2,11 large studies on HPV prevalence in the general male population are few. Furthermore, the majority of studies in men have focused on young individuals 12 or high-risk populations [e.g., men attending sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics 9,13,14 or enrolled in military service [15][16][17] ].Two previous reports from Mexico 12,17 showed that more than one-third of the young men studied were infected with genital HPV. To further elucidate the characteristics of HPV infection in the general male population, we assessed the prevalence and determinants of infection with 35 HPV types among 779 Mexican men who attended publi...