Restriction fragment length polymorphism of L1 amplicon using Rsa 1 detects five different human papillomavirus types and their co-infections among women attending a gynaecological outpatient department.

Detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6, 11, 16, 18, and 33 including co-infections among females attending gynaecological outpatient department and cancer clinics, was done by restriction fragment length polymorphism (using Rsa-1), of approximately 450bp amplicon, obtained by the amplification of the L1 region of HPV genome with consensus primers MY09/11 [Cancer Cells 7 (1989) 209]. The results were further tested with HPV type specific primers [J. Med. Virol. 29 (1989) 20]. The technique was found to be low-cost and less time consuming. The advantage of Rsa 1 over other enzymes was that it detects the five most prevalent HPV types commonly associated with warts, cervical dysplasia, and cancer.