Correlates of cervical mucosal antibodies to human papillomavirus 16: Results from a case control study

Background While the cervical mucosal immune response to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is believed to be central to viral clearance, it is not well characterized. We performed this analysis to determine correlates of HPV-16-specific mucosal antibody response in women at high risk for infection with HPV. Methods. Cervical mucosal and serum samples were obtained from participants in a case control study that measured demographic risk factors of cervical disease and HPV infection. An HPV-16 L1-virus-like particle ELISA was used to detect HPV-16-specific IgA and IgG. Antibody results were correlated to demographic characteristics, sexual history, cervical disease, and HPV detection. Results. Cervical anti-HPV-16 IgA and IgG inversely correlated with HPV DNA, HPV-16 DNA, and cervical disease. Conclusions. These findings suggest that mucosal antibodies may protect against HPV infection and cervical disease. However additional longitudinal studies evaluating serum and mucosal antibody correlates of incident, persistent, and clearing HPV infection are needed. In addition, standardization of mucosal sample collection and testing methods are required.