PRESENCE OF ANTIBODIES TO 7 HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS TYPE-16-DERIVED PEPTIDES IN CERVICAL-CANCER PATIENTS AND HEALTHY CONTROLS

Sera from 133 cervical cancer patients and 154 healthy women (controls ) from Spain and Colombia were tested in IgG-specific ELISAs for the p resence of antibodies against seven peptides derived from five open-re ading frames of human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16. Three of the pepti des corresponded to overlapping regions of the N-terminal half of E7 p rotein; the other peptides corresponded to selected regions of E2, E4, L1, and L2 proteins. The prevalence of antibodies against E2 and E7 p eptides was significantly different between patients and controls. The most marked differences were for E7 peptides. HPV DNA polymerase chai n reaction diagnoses of cervical scrapes were available; these were co rrelated with serologic findings. In HPV-16 DNA-positive patients, E7 antibodies were more broadly and more strongly reactive than in other patient groups.