MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF IN-SITU HYBRIDIZATION SIGNALS IN CERVICAL INTRAEPITHELIAL NEOPLASIA CONTAINING HUMAN-PAPILLOMAVIRUS TYPE-16 OR TYPE-18 - RELATIONSHIP WITH HISTOLOGICAL GRADE AND DNA CONTENT

Among 345 lesions histologically defined as cervical intraepithelial n eoplasia (CIN) examined by in situ hybridization (ISH) for the presenc e of DNA from human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6/11, 16, 18, 31, 33, a nd 51, a group of 69 lesions (41 low grade and 28 high grade) containi ng HPV 16 or 18 was further characterized with the following criteria: DNA ploidy and morphological patterns of ISH spots, i.e., punctate or diffuse throughout the nuclei corresponding to integrated or episomal state of HPV DNA, respectively. The highest percentage of aneuploid l esions, the highest diploid index values, and the highest proportion o f CIN with punctate ISH signals were associated with high-grade lesion s. In addition, punctate ISH signals were also most frequently found i n aneuploid GIN. These results underline that punctate ISH signals con sidered as integrated HPV DNA were preferentially associated with aneu ploid and high-grade lesions, and lead to suggest that this later crit eria could he used to predict the evolution of a lesion towards malign ancy. Cytometry (Comm. Clin. Cytometry) 34:180-186, 1998. (C) 1998 Wil ey Liss, Inc.