THE NATURAL-HISTORY OF HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS TYPE-16 CAPSID ANTIBODIESAMONG A COHORT OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN

To study the temporal relationship between serum antibody response and human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) infection, a cohort of 325 univ ersity women were scheduled for examinations at 4-month intervals, At every examination, interviews were completed, cells were obtained for polymerase chain reaction-based testing and for Pap screening, and ser um was obtained for testing with a HPV-16 capsid-capture ELISA, Serore activity was associated with detection of HPV-16 DNA and with increase d numbers of sex partners, The median time to seroconversion was 8.3 m onths among women with incident HPV-16 infections, Within 16 months fo llowing HPV-16 DNA detection, 93.7% of women with prevalent and 67.1% of women with incident infections seroconverted, After seroconversion, antibody responses were maintained during follow-up among HPV-16 DNA- positive women, Women who seroconverted were 5.7 times (95% confidence interval = 2.4-13.4) more likely to have squamous intraepithelial les ions associated with the detection of HPV-16 DNA than were women who d id not seroconvert.