Background Urine specimen collection is non-invasive and better accepted by patients for HPV and STI screening. The Copan UriSponge^TM, a Liquid Based Microbiology device, used for urine collection for culture and molecular assays. It consists of a leak-proof tube with a screw cap containing a plastic stick with sponges attached that absorb and retain the urine sample during transport preventing bacterial overgrowth. The objective of this study was to compare the UriSponge^TM (US) to the Colli-Pee (CP) (Novosanis) urine devices for self-collection of first void urine (FVU) for the detection of HPV with the Seegene AnyplexII™-HPV28-assay.

Methods FVU, from 72 patients with a recent diagnosis of cervical dysplasia, attending the Gynecology clinic for colposcopy. 20 ml of first-void urine were collected using Colli-Pee^TM and an additional aliquot of urine was collected in sterile containers to saturate UriSponge^TM. Nucleic acids were extracted by NucliSENS easyMAG (bioMrieux) from US and CP urine. HPV detection was performed using AnyplexII^TM HPV28-Assay. Sample cellularity was evaluated with a quantitative real-time PCR detecting human CCR5 gene.

Results Out of 72 urines tested 24 (33.3%) were positive for HR-HPV, 16 (22.2%) for HR+LR, 8 (11.1%) for LR and 24 (22.2%) were negative from both US and CP. Comparable cellularity was present in US and CP with a mean value of 2.09E+06. Optimal concordance for all HR- HPV genotypes compared to cervical sample was demonstrated for US and CP. HPV 16, 18, 51 and 31 were most frequently HR-HPV genotypes.

Conclusion Data obtained in this study demonstrated that the Copan UriSponge^TM detected all HR-HPV positive samples and good cellularity compared to the cervical swab when compared to the Novosanis Colli-Pee^TM using the Seegene Anyplex^TM II HPV28 assay. The UriSponge^TM is easy to use for urine self-collection, its not bulky, can be conveniently shipped by mail at a relatively low cost.

Disclosure No significant relationships.