Visual detection of high-risk HPV16 and HPV18 based on loop-mediated isothermal amplification

Increased adoption of HPV testing is expected in light of a growing global awareness of women's health and the recent launch of cervical cancer vaccines. Testing approaches must be both easy to implement, and offer intelligible representation of amplification results. Here, we introduce a simple, rapid, and visual HPV detection method based on a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay. The visual LAMP assay can be successfully applied to amplify and differentiate the high-risk samples of HPV16 and HPV18, and results can be discriminated via the naked eye, without costly specialized apparatus. This HPV testing method has been evaluated with clinical samples and exhibited excellent reliability, as verified by polymerase chain reaction-microchip electrophoresis (PCR-MCE), and has a reduced false negative rate compared with cytological methods. The LAMP-based platforms with their facile operation and visual results possess great potential for on-site cervical cancer monitoring.