Somatoform and neurocognitive syndromes after HPV immunization are not associated to cell-mediated hypersensitivity to aluminum

- MELISA® test is not useful in evaluating girls with HPV post-vaccination phenomena.
- A lymphocyte-mediated reaction to aluminum is not involved in these phenomena.
- A hypothetical neurotoxicity of aluminum might be mediated by nano-sized particles.
- As well as for aluminum, no immune activation against other metals is evident.

Vaccines against human papilloma virus (HPV) have been demonstrated to be very effective to prevent infection-related neoplasms. However, several reports describing heterogeneous post-vaccination phenomena have been published in last few years. The spectrum of these disorders includes both immune-mediated neurological diseases and neuropsychiatric functional disorders. Some researchers speculated about a genetic predisposition, but others hypothesized a role of adjuvants, including some metals and, particularly, aluminum. Here, we tested sixteen young girls developing somatoform and neurocognitive syndromes after the HPV immunization, through MELISA® test, detecting cell-mediated hypersensitivity to several metals. We found no association between these neurocognitive disorders and the results provided by this test; importantly, no patients showed hypersensitivity to aluminum, which is the inorganic adjuvant included in HPV vaccines. Thus, if aluminum played a role in the pathophysiology of musculoskeletal and neurocognitive disturbances occurring in some young girls after HPV immunization, that should recognize other mechanisms than the activation of aluminum-specific lymphocytes.