Background: Detection and quantification of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) are predicting factors associated with cervical cancer progression. Molecular biology techniques based upon amplification are the most sensitive methods for the detection of the viral DNA, especially in patients without apparent lesions, colposcopics changes or pathologic PAP smears. The aim of this study was to determine HPV infection, genotypes and viral load, in a cohort of 250 women in Mérida State (2008-2009) comparing a novel SYBR Green® quantitative real-time (q-RT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology targeting the late-L1 viral genes with a end-point-PCR assay. Additionally, in order to detect HPV integration, we amplified viral E6/E7 ORFs as the target region by end-point PCR. In this assay, consensus primers including HPV18 and HPV16 genotypes were tested. Methods: Samples were collected in transport medium device (Digene®) and DNAs were isolated using QIAmp® DNA isolation Kit (QIAGEN®). Pap smear was performer by Papanicolaou tech. Results: End-point PCR of L1 region was apply to 125 samples, 20% (71/125) were positive for HPV and there was a moderated agreement (K = 0.46) with the SYBR Green® q-RT PCR assay. Amplification of early E6/E7 region identified 19.2% (24/125) more positive cases, 50% (12/24) were HPV18, 37.5% (9/24) HPV16 and in 12.5% (3/24) amplification of more than one genotype occurred. Conclusion: In conclusion, target region for amplification of HPV DNA is a determinant factor in the molecular diagnosis of cervical infection. Moreover, quantification of the viral load by qRT-PCR SYBR Green-L1 assay allows to determines HPV infection, viral load, genotyping especially in women with high risks lesions by PAP smear. Abstracts for SupplementInternational Journal of Infectious DiseasesVol. 14Preview Full-Text PDF Open Archive