Identification of Chlamydia trachomatis DNA in human papillomavirus (HPV) positive women with normal and abnormal cytology.

Insofar as infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) are associated with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), the aim of this study was to assess the correlation of HPV and CT infection in patients with normal or abnormal cytology. Endocervical samples from patients (n=121; mean age 33.7+7.0) were assessed for HPV and CT DNA by PCR. While there was no statistically significant difference between HPV-positive (n=44) and HPV-negative (n=77) patients to age pregnancies, higher proportion of smokers, patients with multiple male sex partners, or with abnormal cytology was seen in HPV-positive vs. HPV-negative women, respectively. An infection rate of CT of 21/44 was seen in HPV-positive as compared to 11/77 in HPV-negative patients. Within HPV-positive patients, there was no significant difference between CT-positive and CT-negative patients with regards to the risk factors studied. Collectively, this suggests that a causal relationship between HPV and CT infection in the development of CIN disease.