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. 2013 Feb;9(2):314-21.
doi: 10.4161/hv.22693. Epub 2012 Nov 13.

Detection of systemic and mucosal HPV-specific IgG and IgA antibodies in adolescent girls one and two years after HPV vaccination

Mirte Scherpenisse  1 , Madelief Mollers, Rutger M Schepp, Chris J L M Meijer, Hester E de Melker, Guy A M Berbers, Fiona R M van der Klis
Affiliations

Detection of systemic and mucosal HPV-specific IgG and IgA antibodies in adolescent girls one and two years after HPV vaccination

Mirte Scherpenisse et al. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2013 Feb.

Abstract

The bivalent HPV16/18 vaccine induces high antibody concentrations in serum while data about antibody responses in the cervix are limited. In this study, we investigated pre- and post-vaccination antibody responses against seven high-risk HPV types by detection of IgG and IgA HPV-specific antibodies in cervical secretion samples (CVS) and serum. From an HPV vaccine monitoring study CVS and serum samples were available (pre-vaccination (n = 297), one year (n = 211) and two years (n = 141) post-dose-one vaccination) from girls aged 14-16 y. The girls were vaccinated with the bivalent HPV vaccine at months 0, 1 and 6. CVS was self-sampled using a tampon. Samples were tested for HPV-specific antibodies (HPV16/18/31/33/45/52/58) by a VLP-based multiplex immunoassay. Post-vaccination, IgG and IgA antibody levels for HPV16/18 were detectable in CVS and amounted to 2% and 1% of the IgG and IgA antibody levels observed in serum, respectively. The antibody levels remained constant between one and two years after vaccination. The correlation between CVS and serum was similar for IgG and IgA vaccine-derived antibody levels for HPV16 (rs = 0.58, rs = 0.54) and HPV18 (rs = 0.50, rs = 0.55). Vaccine-derived IgG antibody levels against cross-reactive HPV types in CVS and in serum were highest for HPV45. No IgA cross-reactive antibody responses could be detected in CVS. Post-vaccination, HPV16/18 IgG and IgA antibodies are not only detectable in serum but also in CVS. The correlation of HPV16/18 IgG antibody levels between serum and CVS suggests that vaccine induced HPV antibodies transudate and/or exudate from the systemic circulation to the cervical mucosa to provide protection against HPV infections.

Keywords: HPV; HPV vaccination; IgA; IgG; antibody concentrations; cervical secretion; exudation; multiplex-immunoassay; transudation.

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Figures

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Figure 1. Flow diagram of available cervical secretion samples (CVS) and serum samples.
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Figure 2. The effect of blood contamination on HPV16 (dark gray line) and HPV18 (light gray line) geometric mean concentrations (GMC) in cervical secretion samples (CVS).
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Figure 3. Antibody responses for HPV16, HPV18 and phylogenetically related HPV types 31, 33, 45, 52 and 58 in serum for IgG (A) and IgA (B) pre-vaccination (M0, light gray dots), one year after the first vaccination (M12, dark gray dots) and two years after the first vaccination (M24, black dots). ***p < 0.0001.
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Figure 4. IgG antibody responses for HPV16, HPV18 and for phylogenetically related HPV types 31, 33, 45, 52 and 58, pre-vaccination (M0, light gray dots), one year after the first vaccination (M12, dark gray dots), and two years after the first vaccination (M24, black dots) in cervical secretion. ***p < 0.0001.
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Figure 5. Spearman rank correlations (rs) between HPV16 and 18 IgG (A and B) and IgA antibody levels (C and D) in serum and cervical secretion samples (CVS) one year after the first vaccination (M12). X and Y-axis are in logarithmic scale.
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Figure 6. Spearman rank correlations (rs) between IgG antibody levels of HPV16 and HPV18 in serum (A) and cervical secretion samples (CVS) (B) one year after the first vaccination (M12). X and Y-axis are in logarithmic scale.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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