Human Papillomavirus Antibody Levels Following Vaccination or Natural Infection Among Young Men Who Have Sex With Men

Eric P F Chow; Christopher K Fairley; Huachun Zou; Rebecca Wigan; Suzanne M Garland; Alyssa M Cornall; Steph Atchison; Sepehr N Tabrizi; Marcus Y Chen

doi:10.1093/cid/ciab1052

Human Papillomavirus Antibody Levels Following Vaccination or Natural Infection Among Young Men Who Have Sex With Men

Clin Infect Dis. 2022 Aug 25;75(2):323-329. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciab1052.

Authors

Eric P F Chow^{1

2

3}, Christopher K Fairley^{1

2}, Huachun Zou^{4

5

6}, Rebecca Wigan², Suzanne M Garland^{7

8

9}, Alyssa M Cornall^{7

8

9}, Steph Atchison¹⁰, Sepehr N Tabrizi⁷, Marcus Y Chen^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Central Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
² Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
³ Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁴ Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, PR China.
⁵ School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, PR China.
⁶ Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁷ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁸ Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁹ Centre for Women's Infectious Diseases, Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
¹⁰ Department of Molecular Microbiology, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

PMID: 34971362
DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciab1052

Abstract

Background: Australia introduced a school-based gender-neutral human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program for girls and boys aged 12-13 years in 2013. We examined HPV type-specific antibody levels in unvaccinated young men who have sex with men (MSM) with natural infection and compared these with levels in those vaccinated against HPV.

Methods: Serum specimens at baseline were collected from MSM aged 16-20 years in the HYPER1 (Human Papillomavirus in Young People Epidemiological Research) and HYPER2 studies, conducted in 2010-2013 and 2017-2019, respectively. Merck's 4-plex HPV competitive Luminex Immunoassay was used to quantify HPV6-, HPV11-, HPV16-, and HPV18-specific antibodies. We compared antibody levels for each HPV genotype between unvaccinated men (HYPER1) and vaccinated men (HYPER2) using the Mann-Whitney U test.

Results: There were 200 unvaccinated men and 127 vaccinated men included in the analysis. Median antibody levels among vaccinated men were significantly higher than levels among unvaccinated men for HPV6 (223 milli-Merck units per milliliter [mMU/mL] vs 48 mMU/mL, P < .0001), HPV11 (163 mMU/mL vs 21 mMU/mL, P < .0001), HPV16 (888 mMU/mL vs 72 mMU/mL, P < .0001), and HPV18 (161 mMU/mL vs 20 mMU/mL, P < .0001). Antibody levels did not change over time for up to 66 months for all 4 genotypes among vaccinated men.

Conclusions: Among young MSM vaccinated with the quadrivalent HPV vaccine, antibody levels for HPV6, HPV11, HPV16, and HPV18 were significantly higher than those in unvaccinated MSM following natural infection. Antibody levels following vaccination appeared to remain stable over time.

Clinical trials registration: NCT01422356 for HYPER1 and NCT03000933 for HYPER2.

Keywords: HPV; immune response; immunization; natural infection; vaccination.

Publication types

Clinical Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Alphapapillomavirus*
Antibodies, Viral
Female
Homosexuality, Male
Human papillomavirus 16
Humans
Male
Papillomaviridae
Papillomavirus Infections*
Papillomavirus Vaccines*
Sexual and Gender Minorities*
Vaccination

Substances

Antibodies, Viral
Papillomavirus Vaccines

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT01422356
ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT03000933