First-void urine: a potential source to monitor humoral immunity.

Feasibility of first-void (FV) urine sampling to monitor the impact of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination has been demonstrated, mainly focusing on urine as sample to assess viral endpoints. However, equally important to confirm immunogenicity of the prophylactic HPV vaccines, in addition to the absence of persistent HPV DNA infections, is monitoring immune response against HPV. It is assumed that the presence of neutralizing anti-HPV antibodies that transudate or exudate at the anogenital sites are critical for vaccine induced protective immunity. As such, detection of anti-HPV antibodies will be an important addition to the existing viral endpoints. Interestingly, the presence of transudated HPV vaccine-induced anti-HPV antibodies, in cervicovaginal secretions (CVS) has already been confirmed by several groups, justifying our idea to look for these antibodies in FV urine. Based on the same theory behind identifying HPV DNA in FV urine, this sample may also harbor anti-HPV antibodies originating from mucus and exfoliated cells from the female genital organs, including the cervix. To the best of our knowledge, the presence of anti-HPV antibodies in (FV) urine has never been investigated. Being able to assess these in an easy and non-invasive manner will be a major advantage for epidemiological and large population studies and for follow-up of HPV vaccination trials and programs. As a result of this project, ample new applications in other fields will be created, benefiting from monitoring the humoral immune response non-invasively at large scale, reducing the need for blood-sampling.

Keywords:HPV, HPV ANTIBODIES, URINE

Disciplines:Virology, Vaccinology