Seroreactivity to human papillomavirus types 16, 18, 31, and 45 virus-likeparticles in a case-control study of cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions

Serum IgG antibodies to human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16, 18, 31, and 45 virus-like particles were measured in a nested case-control study of cervi cal squamous intraepithelial lesions. HPV-16 seroreactivity was strongly as sociated with HPV-16 DNA detection (odds ratio, 9.0; 95% confidence interva l, 4.4-19.4), and similar type specificity was observed for HPV-31 and -45. In contrast, seroreactivity to any type was associated with elevated seror eactivity to all others. Among cases and controls, HPV-16 showed the highes t seroprevalence, with 23.8% of 80 cases and 10.5% of 258 controls seroreac tive to HPV-16 alone, and another 27.5% and 5.4%, respectively, seroreactiv e to HPV-16 plus other types. Overall, 24 (30.0%) cases and 17 (6.6%) contr ols were seroreactive to multiple types. These data suggest that seroreacti vity to a given type reflects mainly type-specific HPV infection as measure d by DNA detection and may also signal past exposure to other types that ar e now only serologically detected.