title: Age distribution of antibodies to human papillomavirus in children, women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and blood donors from South Africa.
abstract: Sera from 95 women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), 95 age-matched female blood donors, and 155 children aged between 1 and 12 years were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for levels of serum IgG to three human papillomavirus (HPV) peptides (HPV-16 E2 [E2-16], HPV-18 E2 (E2-18], HPV-16 L1 [L1-16]), as well as HPV-16 virus-like particles (VLP-16) and bovine papillomavirus type 1 virus-like particles (BPV-VLP). In the adult group antibodies to E2-16 and VLP-16 were significantly associated with CIN when compared to the blood donor controls (P = .039 and P = .002, respectively). In women with CIN there was an increase in seropositivity to E2-16 and a decrease in seropositivity to VLP-16 with age. Antibodies to HPV-16 E2 could therefore be an important marker of CIN in women over 40 years of age, whereas antibodies to VLP-16 could be a marker for CIN in younger women. There was no correlation with CIN and antibodies to E2-18, L1-16, and BPV-VLP. In the children's sera antibodies were detected to E2-16 (44.5%), E2-18 (18.7%), L1-16 (20%), VLP-16 (4.5%), and BPV-VLP (5.1%). Between the ages of 3 and 12 years the prevalence of antibodies to E2-16 decreased with age. The presence of antibodies to HPV-16 in young children indicated infection with either HPV-16 or a related virus. HPV DNA isolation from children could help resolve this question.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Cape Town Medical School, South Africa.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marais
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Williamson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D001782:Blood Donors; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D002417:Cattle; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007223:Infant; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C054855:E2 protein, Human papillomavirus type 16; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D009856:Oncogene Proteins, Viral; C069102:oncogene protein E2, Human papillomavirus type 18; C063317:L1 protein, Human papillomavirus type 16