Prevalence of HPV16 E1-1374^63nt variants in Greek women

Recent studies have focused on sequence variation of the HPV16 E1 gene. The present study investigates the prevalence of E1‐1374^63nt duplication in the Greek population, and the sequence variation at the 5′ end of the E1 and E6 genes from samples that harbored this genetic alteration. Fifty HPV16 positive cervical samples, derived from Greek patients were investigated. The 5′ end of the E1 gene was amplified through PCR and the variant amplicons were cloned, sequenced, and bioinformatically analyzed for selective pressure. The E1‐1374^63nt duplication was identified in 24% of the examined samples, with the same prevalence in both high and low‐grade cervical malignancies. The E1‐1374^63nt duplication was linked to the European variant lineage (x2 = 5.076, P