Abstract:To evaluate PCR-sequencing for clinical detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes in cervical cell specimens, we applied PCR-sequencing to HPV detection and genotyping by general primer PGMY09/11, which targets the HPV most conserved L1 gene. Samples with multiple infections were subjected to HPV type-specific PCR. Among the 325 cervical samples, 228 were HPV positive, of which 66 showed multiple infections. In all, 27 different HPV genotypes were identified, with HPV 16 being the most prevalent, followed by HPV 58 and 52. The prevalence of high-risk HPV infection increased with the severity of cervical lesions (P<0.05), whereas the proportion of multiple infections declined significantly from LSIL to SCC (P<0.05). Both rates of overall and high-risk HPV infection were the highest in 21-30 age groups. There was substantial agreement between the HC2 and PCR-sequencing assay for detection of high-risk HPV (kappa=0.675). PCR-sequencing was effective in HPV detection and genotyping, and it could be potentially applied to large scale HPV screening.