| Abstract [eng] |
The doctoral thesis of Vaida Simanavičienė is an interdisciplinary research, which involves development of molecular assays for HPV detection, HPV prevalence studies and investigation of potencial risk factors related to HPV infection. In this study, a new PCR system for the detection of high-risk HPV infection was developed and two PCR assays for the detection of general HPV infection and HPV genotyping were optimized. A large-scale study on the prevalence of HPV infection and 16 high-risk HPV genotypes in the groups of Lithuanian women with known cytological and histological diagnosis was performed. HPV16 was identified as the most common HPV genotype. For the first time, DNA methylation at selected DNA sites of HPV51 was investigated and compared to methylation pattern of HPV16 and HPV18. DNA methylation frequency of all three high-risk HPV genotypes at 3ʹ parts of the HPV L1 gene correlated with the severity of cervical neoplasia. Expression level of p16INK4A mRNA was investigated in cervical specimens by quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR and its correlation with the grade of cervical dysplasia was evaluated. An increased level of p16INK4A mRNA in clinical specimens can be used as a marker for an active HPV infection. For the first time in Lithuania, the prevalence of HPV infection in oral epithelial samples of healthy men and women was investigated. It was demonstrated that the prevalence of oral HPV infection in men was more common than in women. Investigation of potential risk factors of cervical cancer revealed that the use of contraceptives increases the incidence of HPV infection. |
