Poor antibody response against human papillomavirus in adult-onset laryngeal papillomatosis

To investigate whether adult-onset laryngeal papillomatosis induces serum a ntibodies to the human papillomavirus (HPV), 60 patients underwent a clinic al examination, and HPV DNA from their laryngeal biopsy was assayed by PCR and HPV serology with virus-like particles as the antigen. Patients and con trols (n =53) showed no differences in their HPV 6 and 16 antibodies. Patie nts more often had HPV 11 antibodies, female patients more often than femal e controls or male patients, Of the female patients, 5 of 15 had a history of genital condylomas and, at the follow-up visit, 5 of 9 had cervical cyto logy consistent with genital HPV infection. The fact that HPV antibodies di d not correlate with clinical features of the laryngeal disease or with HPV DNA detected in the larynx, suggests that HPV antibodies in female patient s were induced by genital rather than laryngeal HPV infection. The high pre valence of abnormal Pap smears indicates that gynaecological examination of female adult-onset laryngeal papilloma patients is warranted.