ANTIBODY-LEVELS AGAINST ALPHA-GALACTOSYL EPITOPES IN SERA OF PATIENTSWITH SQUAMOUS INTRAEPITHELIAL LESIONS AND EARLY INVASIVE CERVICAL-CARCINOMA

We measured serum levels of anti-Ga1(alpha 1 --> 3)Gal and anti-Gal(al pha 1 --> 2)Gal antibodies in 89 and 91 women, respectively, by using ELISA. These patients had cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (GIN) gra des 1 to 3 and early invasive cervical carcinoma (ICC), Our objective was to compare anti-cu-galactosyl antibody levels among them and with those of normal controls, High levels of anti-Gal(alpha 1 --> 2)Gal an tibodies were detected in 22% of patients (P = 0.006). The mean level was 1.6 times greater than that of controls, without difference among subgroups. Thirty percent of patients had abnormally high anti-Gal lev els (P = 0.001). Mean levels were twofold greater than the mean contro l value. Subsets with human papillomavirus/CIN 1 and CIN 2-3 had high immunoreactivity (P = 0.004). Both antibodies showed a significant cor relation (r = 0.53, P < 0.00001), We conclude that 22 to 30% of patien ts with CIN 1-3 showed significantly high levels of anti-alpha-galacto syl antibodies, This seroreactivity might be related to the abnormal e xpression of alpha-galactosyl residues at some point of the natural hi story of human papillomavirus infection of the uterine cervix, suggest ing an active immune response by natural antibodies against this virus . Further studies are needed to determine whether anti-alpha-galactosy l antibodies confer protection in human papillomavirus infection. (C) 1997 Academic Press.