DNA-PLOIDY AND HPV SUBTYPES IN CERVICAL SMEARS OF HIV-SERO-POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE PATIENTS

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that cervical HPV infection and precancerous lesions of the cervix are more common in HIV-seroposi tive patients. However little is known about the natural history of th ese lesions in this population. In the present study cervical smears f rom 36 patients, 18 HIV-seropositive women and 18 matched controls wer e evaluated with the aim of quantifying morphological alterations and to evaluate DNA ploidy and HPV subtypes. Cervical lesions in HIV-serop ositive patients were diploid in 50% of the cases compared to 25% in c ontrols. The only HPVs identified by ISH were types 16/18 and no signi ficant differences were observed in the control population. In contras t cytological evidence of HPV infection and dysplastic changes was gre atly increased in smears from HIV patients compared to HIV-seronegativ e women. Less than 5% of the cells showed HPV associated changes in co ntrols while 10% to 30% of the cells were affected in HIV-patients. We suggest that the Papanicolaou test should be effective for detecting cervical disease and for a close follow-up of this population. Moreove r, while additional studies with larger population groups and differen t population bases are needed these findings are suggestive of the pos sible use of morphological criteria for the identification of HIV/-ser opositive subjects.