The impact of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 status on human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence and HPV antibodies in serum and cervical secretions

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1-infected (HIV-positive) and -uninfected (HIV-negative) sex workers were examined for the presence of cervical human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA. Cervicovaginal rinse and serum samples from these women were examined for IgG and IgA antibodies to HPV-16 virus-like particles (VLP-16) by ELISA, The HIV-positive women displayed a significantly higher prevalence of HPV DNA (40/47 [85%]) than did the HIV-negative women (22/52 [42%]; P = .00001). Both HIV-positive and HIV-negative sex workers displayed a high seroprevalence rate for anti-VLP-16 IgG antibodies (27/40 [68%] and 30/43 [70%], respectively), but significantly fewer HIV-positive women than HIV-negative women had anti-VLP-16 serum Ig A (6/40 [15%] vs. 17/43 [40%], respectively; P = .012). Significantly more HIV-positive women than HIV-negative women had cervical anti-VLP-16 IgG antibodies (16/49 [33%] vs. 6/63 [10%], respectively; P = .002) but not IgA antibodies (P = .3).