Seropositivity to Multiple Anogenital Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Types Is Associated With Current Anogenital HPV Infection, Abnormal Cytology, and Seropositivity for Nongenital HPVs

Background

Antibodies against human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are biomarkers for current or past infections. We assessed whether antibodies against multiple HPV types were determinants of current multiple anogenital HPV infections, abnormal cytology, and seropositivity for cutaneous HPVs.

Methods

A total of 1848 Slovenian women attended 2 rounds of cervical cancer screening 3 years apart and provided data on HPV antibodies and HPV DNA at both visits. Antibodies against 15 anogenital HPV types and 6 cutaneous HPVs were determined using pseudovirion-Luminex serology and anogenital HPV DNA using Linear Array. Antibodies to polyomaviruses were evaluated as a control. Women were grouped as either HPV seronegative or having antibodies to 1-2 HPV types or to ≥3 HPV types.

Results

Presence of antibodies to multiple anogenital HPV types at baseline was associated strongly with (i) presence of HPV DNA at the cervix (χ2 = 68.8; P < .0001), (ii) multiple types of HPV DNA at baseline (χ2 = 58.6; P < .0001), (iii) HPV DNA at follow-up (χ2 = 22.9; P < .0001), (iv) abnormal cytology (χ2 = 9.8; P = .0017), and (v) concomitant presence of antibodies to any of 6 nongenital HPV types (χ2 = 40.1; P < .0001). Presence of antibodies to ≥3 anogenital HPV types tended to persist over time.

Conclusions

Seropositivity against at least 3 anogenital HPV types is associated with current multiple anogenital HPV infections, abnormal cytology, and seropositivity to nongenital HPVs.

Human papillomavirus DNA positivity and seropositivity in rural Chinese men and women: a population-based cross-sectional study

Data on simultaneous analysis of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA and serology and the correlations within a single general population are limited. Among 1603 men and 2187 women enrolled from rural China, serum antibodies against bacterially derived GST-L1 fusion proteins of HPV were assessed with multiplexed serology and HPV DNA was evaluated with PCR-based sequencing. Few subjects were dually positive to HPV DNA and serum antibodies for any HPV (6.6% of men and 3.1% of women). The proportion of men ever having been infected with any HPV (DNA and/or antibody positive) was higher than that of women (71.0% vs. 65.2%, P < 0.001). Type-specific association was observed for genital HPV infection and HPV seropositivity among women but not among men. A positive correlation between the number of lifetime sexual partners and positivity for oncogenic HPV DNA and/or antibodies was found in men but was absent in women. Among 762 couples, the presence of HPV DNA and/or antibodies in one partner was positively associated with the identical HPV type in the other partner. These findings may reflect a site-specific natural course of HPV infection and further understanding of the epidemiology of HPV.

Comparisons of VLP-Based ELISA, Neutralization Assays with Native HPV, and Neutralization Assays with PsV in Detecting HPV Antibody Responses in HIV-Infected Women

OBJECTIVE

Human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers are important public health problems in HIV-infected people. Assays based on HPV virus-like particles (VLP) and pseudoviruses (PsV) are commonly used to examine HPV antibody responses in HIV-infected people, but neutralization assays with native HPV have not been utilized and a comparison of these three assays is lacking. We evaluated the agreement of assays using VLP, native HPV and PsV in detecting HPV16 and 18 antibodies in HIV-infected women.

METHODS

The VLP-based ELISA (VLP-ELISA) was used to detect antibody responses to HPV16 and 18 and cottontail rabbit papillomavirus (CRPV) VLP antigens. Neutralization assays with native HPV (NA-HPV) and with PsV (NA-PsV) were conducted to examine HPV16 or 18 neutralizing antibodies. Intra class correlation coefficients (ICC) and kappa coefficients were used to assess the agreements of seropositivity between the assays.

RESULTS

The seroprevalence detected by the VLP-ELISA, NA-HPV and NA-PsV in 94 HIV-infected women was 35%, 51% and 27% for HPV16 and 14%, 44% and 21% for HPV18. Cross-reactivity between HPV16 and HPV18 was 0.35, 0.04 and 0.33 (kappa coefficients) for the VLP-ELISA, NA-HPV and NA-PsV. The agreements of seropositivity between the three assays were low. Six women who were HPV16 DNA positive were seropositive by the NA-HPV but only two were HPV16 seropositive by the VLP-ELISA or NA-PsV. One HPV18 DNA positive woman was seropositive by all three assays. Repeated tests indicated excellent reproducibility of the NA-HPV.

CONCLUSION

HPV serology results vary across different assays. The NA-HPV appears to be a sensitive and reliable approach in detecting natural HPV antibodies in HIV-infected women. The NA-HPV can be applied in both HPV natural history studies and vaccine studies in HIV-infected people.

Impact of inhibitors and L2 antibodies upon the infectivity of diverse alpha and beta human papillomavirus types

The licensed human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines elicit type-restricted immunity but do not target cutaneous HPV types of the beta genus that are associated with non-melanoma skin cancer in immune-compromised patients, and it is unclear if these diverse types share a common mechanism of infection. Residues 11-88 of minor capsid protein L2 contain cross-protective epitopes, and vaccination with concatamers of this region derived from as many as eight alpha HPV (L2 α11-88x8) is being developed as an alternative prophylactic vaccine with potentially broader efficacy. There is also interest in developing broadly protective topical microbicides, such as carrageenan or heparin that block HPV receptor interactions, or small molecule inhibitors of infection. Here we have examined several inhibitors of HPV infection and antisera to L2 α11-88x8 for their breadth of activity against infection by 34 HPV types from within both the alpha and beta families using pseudovirions (PsV) carrying a luciferase reporter as surrogates for native virus. We observed that both heparin and carrageenan prevented infection by mucosatropic HPV types, but surprisingly PsV of several epidermotropic alpha4 and beta HPV types exhibited increased infectivity especially at low inhibitor concentrations. Furin and γ-secretase inhibitors and L2 α11-88x8 antiserum blocked infection by all HPV PsV types tested. These findings suggest that the distinct tropism of mucosal and cutaneous HPV may reflect distinct cell surface receptor interactions, but a common uptake mechanism dependent upon furin and γ-secretase proteolytic activities. Carrageenan, which is being tested as a vaginal microbicide, broadly inhibited infection by the high-risk mucosatropic HPV PsV, but not most skin tropic alpha and beta HPV. Vaccination with an L2 multimer derived exclusively from alpha papillomavirus sequences induced antibodies that broadly neutralized PsV of all 34 HPVs from within both the alpha and beta families, suggesting each displays conserved L2 neutralizing epitopes.