Detection and typing of human papillomavirus in histologic specimens by in situ hybridization with biotinylated DNA probes.

Eighty tissue biopsies from 73 women suspected of having papillomavirus (HPV) infection of the lower genital tract were examined by in situ hybridization with biotinylated DNA probes derived from the complete genomes of four HPV types (6, 11, 16, and 18) and restriction analysis of the extracted DNA on Southern blots. In a subset of 52 samples, the in situ test had a 90.4% sensitivity (47 of 52) in detecting the presence or absence of virus, whereas Southern blot analysis detected HPV with a sensitivity of 98.1% (51 of 52). For 51 samples, in which the viral type was determined by restriction analysis, comparison of the signals separately generated by the four probes after in situ hybridization allowed a correct identification of the infecting HPV type in 86.2% (44 of 51) of cases.