PREVALENCE OF ANTIBODIES TO HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUSES IN THE GENERAL-POPULATION OF THE CZECH-REPUBLIC

Sera from 450 individuals between the age of 1 and 80 years, represent ing the general population of the Czech Republic, were tested for the presence of antibodies to human-papillomavirus(HPV)-derived antigens, The following antigens were used: (i) HPV1 virions; (ii) HPV16, -18 an d -33-virus-like particles (VLP); (iii) peptides derived from L2 open reading frames (ORFs) of HPV16 and HPV6/11; (iv) peptides derived from HPV16 E2, E4 and E7 ORFs of HPV16, The prevalence of antibodies react ive with the capsid-derived antigens was age-dependent, while no clear age dependence was observed in the distribution of antibodies to pept ides derived from HPV16 early proteins, In individual sera, high corre lations between the presence of antibodies reactive with the 2 L2 pept ides, also between the antibodies reactive with different VLPs, were f ound. While the simultaneous presence of the 2 L2 antibodies was frequ ently detected in individual sera in all age groups, the simultaneous occurrence of VLP antibodies was detected mostly in subjects older tha n 20 years. There were no significant differences in HPV-antibody dist ribution between men and women. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.