CD8 T-Cell Responses in Incident and Prevalent Human Papillomavirus Types 16 and 18 Infections

Abstract EN

CD8 T-cell responses were examined in subjects with incident (new following negative visits) or prevalent (lasting ≥ 4 months) human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) or human papillomavirus (HPV18) infection.

The groups were chosen from a cohort of women being followed every 4 months with cervical cytology and HPV-DNA testing.

Enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay was performed at enrollment (time zero) and one year later.

At time zero, 1 (6%) of 17 subjects with incident HPV 16/18 infections had positive ELISPOT results which increased to 6 (35%) at one year.

For the subjects with prevalent HPV 16/18 infections, the ELISPOT results were similar at time zero (2 (15%) of 15 subjects positive) and at one year (3 (20%)).

While all of the 11 women with prevalent HPV16 infection showed clearance one year later, unexpectedly only 1 (25%) of 4 women with prevalent HPV18 infection demonstrated clearance one year later (P=.009).