Cytobrush and cotton swab as sampling tools for molecular diagnosis of female genital schistosomiasis in the uterine cervix

Doudou Sow; Coumba Nar Ndiour; Ousmane Thiam; Magatte Ndiaye; Pape Ndiole Diagne; Souleymane Doucouré; Bruno Senghor; Oumar Gaye; Cheikh Sokhna; Babacar Faye

doi:10.1016/j.crpvbd.2023.100143

Cytobrush and cotton swab as sampling tools for molecular diagnosis of female genital schistosomiasis in the uterine cervix

Curr Res Parasitol Vector Borne Dis. 2023 Oct 1:4:100143. doi: 10.1016/j.crpvbd.2023.100143. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Service de Parasitologie-Mycologie, UFR Sciences de la Santé, Université Gaston Berger, BP 234, St Louis, Senegal.
² Service de Gynécologie - Obstétrique, UFR Sciences de la Santé, Université Gaston Berger, BP 234, St Louis, Senegal.
³ Service de Parasitologie - Mycologie, FMPO, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, BP 5005, Dakar, Senegal.
⁴ Unité VITROME, Institut de Recherche et de Développement, Dakar, Senegal.

Abstract

Female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) caused by Schistosoma haematobium is a neglected chronic parasitic disease. Diagnosis relies mainly on a colposcopy, which reveals non-specific lesions. This study aimed to assess the performance of two sampling methods for the molecular diagnosis of FGS in the uterine cervix. We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study in women of reproductive age in Saint Louis, Senegal, who presented for cervical cancer screening. Cotton swab and cytobrush samples were collected from the cervix and examined by real-time PCR. The PCR results obtained using the cotton swabs were compared with those obtained using cytobrush. Of the 189 women recruited, 56 (30%) were found to be positive for S. haematobium infection via real-time PCR. Women aged 40-54 years were predominantly infected (45%) followed by those aged 25-39 years (36%). Numerically more PCR-positive specimens were identified using cytobrush sampling. Of the 89 women who underwent both cytobrush and cotton swab sampling, 27 were PCR-positive in the cytobrush sampling vs 4 in the swab sampling. The mean Ct-value was 31.0 ± 3.8 for cytobrush-based PCR vs 30.0 ± 4.4 for swab-based PCR. The results confirm that real-time PCR can detect Schistosoma haematobium DNA in the uterine cervix. The next step will be to compare PCR with the other diagnostic methods of FGS.

Keywords: Cervical sampling; Cytobrush; Real-time PCR; Schistosoma haematobium; Swab.