Evaluation of systemic and mucosal anti-HPV16 and anti-HPV18 antibody responses from vaccinated women

Ideal methods to monitor HPV neutralizing antibodies induced by vaccination have not been established yet. Here, we evaluated systemic and cervical antibody levels induced by HPV16/18 AS04-adjuvanted vaccine (GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals) using a secreted alkaline phosphatase neutralization assay (SEAP-NA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Serum and cervical secretions from 50 vaccinated women were used to assess (1) overall assay reproducibility; (2) inter-assay and inter-specimen correlation; (3) correlations between month 1 and month 12 titers. Strong correlations between SEAP-NA and ELISA were observed (serum anti-HPV16/18, ρ = 0.91/0.85; cervix anti-HPV16/18, ρ = 0.84/0.89). Systemic and cervical antibody measures also correlated well (ρ range: 0.64–0.75); except at mid-cycle (ρ range: 0.28–0.65). Correlations between antibody levels at 1 and 12 months following the start of vaccination were poor (ρ range: 0.16–0.38). In conclusion, HPV16/18 VLP-based ELISA is a reliable and valid method to monitor anti-HPV16/18 neutralizing potential for the first year following vaccination; however, additional studies will be required to better define the effects of the time on cycle and patterns of antibody response over time following vaccination.