HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS (HPV) TYPE DISTRIBUTION AND SEROLOGICAL RESPONSETO HPV TYPE-6 VIRUS-LIKE PARTICLES IN PATIENTS WITH GENITAL WARTS

Thirty-nine patients with condylomas (12 women and 27 men) attending a dermatology clinic were tested for genital human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA and for seroprevalence to HPV type 6 (HPV6) L1 virus-like particl es. The L1 consensus PCR system (with primers MY09 and MY11) was used to determine the presence and types of HPV in sample specimens. All 37 (100%) patients with sufficient DNA specimens were positive for HPV D NA, and 35 (94%) had HPV6 DNA detected at the wart site. Three patient s (8%) had HPV11 detected at the wart site, and one patient had both H PV6 and -11 detected at the wart site. Thirteen additional HPV types w ere detected among the patients; the most frequent were HPV54 (8%) and HPV58 (8%). Baculovirus-expressed HPV6 L1 virus-like particles were u sed in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays to determine seroprevalence among the patients with warts. Seronegativity was defined by a control group of 21 women who were consistently PCR negative for HPV DNA. Ser oprevalence was also determined for reference groups that included cyt ologically normal women who had detectable DNA from either HPV6 or HPV 16 and women with HPV16-associated cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. Among the asymptomatic women with HPV6, only 2 of 9 (22%) were seropo sitive, compared with 12 of 12 (100%) female patients with warts. A si milar trend in increased HPV6 seropositivity with increased grade of d isease was found with the HPV16 DNA-positive women, whose seroprevalen ce increased from 1 in 11 (9%) in cytologically normal women to 6 in 1 5 (40%) among women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 1 or 3. Ho wever, only 4 of 25 (16%) male patients were seropositive. No factors examined, such as age, sexual behavior, or a history of warts, were fo und to definitively account for the gender difference in seroresponse.