In a qualitative study of people with COPD, the exercise facility

was also found to be a possible barrier due to feelings of embarrassment or intimidation (Hogg Quisinostat nmr et al 2012). This is similar to a frequently mentioned reason in the general elderly population: intimidation or fear of slowing other people down during physical activities (Costello et al 2011). Some theories of behavioural change exist and may explain adherence to physical activity. According to those theories, adherence to physical activity seems to be promoted by the presence of individual needs, personal level of fitness, readiness for behavioural change, self-efficacy, and social support (Seefeldt et al 2002). In line with this, we found that individual needs, personal level of fitness and self-efficacy were related to physical activity in people with COPD. Importance of individual needs was reflected by our finding that enjoyment in physical activity is important, as was the high variability in individual preferred type of activity.

Readiness for change in behaviour was not a theme of the interview. In contrast with those theories, the influence of social support on physical activity was not clear in our population. selleck chemical Although a large group of participants report positive social support on physical activity, most of these participants do not feel that the experienced social support influences their actual physical activity level. Furthermore, we identified some disease-specific barriers to physical activity in people with COPD that are Isotretinoin not specifically present in the behavioural change theories: health, financial constraints, weather, and shame. Additionally, lack of time, a frequently reported reason to be sedentary in the general elderly population, was reported by only three participants in our sample. Consequently, lack of time appears not to be an issue in our population of people with COPD. Furthermore, tiredness or poor sleep quality and fear of movement were not reported frequently as reasons to be sedentary. This study is unique because

of the large heterogeneous population of people with COPD we studied and its combined qualitative and quantitative design. The population included 115 people with COPD in all stages of severity of the disease with a broad spectrum of clinical characteristics, and therefore allows conclusions about the full range of people with COPD. The use of qualitative research methods allowed us to gain more insight into the personal thoughts and ideas about physical activity. The use of two independent trained coders, use of an iterative coding process, and the use of standardised methods strengthen the internal validity of the findings. A limitation of the current study is that due to the relatively high number of participants, the interviews were not audiotaped and transcribed verbatim.

1 billion and 34,000QALYs in an influenza season [26]. The current IFPMA IVS survey shows that while globally some progress has been made toward achieving WHO vaccination coverage targets, those gains are uneven across WHO regions. While the global distribution

of seasonal influenza vaccines has grown by almost 87% since 2004, the observed change between 2008 and 2011 was only 12%. Since the benefits or seasonal influenza immunization are widely documented and recognized [27] and [28], it is worrying to note a decline in dose distribution, particularly in 56% of countries of EURO where selleck compound on the whole the dose distribution per population is higher than in other WHO regions. Partridge et al. [10] noted that only about half of the global vaccine

capacity for a northern hemisphere seasonal influenza vaccine was being utilized in 2011, and even less for a southern hemisphere vaccine. This may have potentially adverse consequences on pandemic preparedness as logistically manufacturing and country capacity go untested. Production capacity may also shrink to Bcl-2 inhibitor better fit with annual uptake further compromising pandemic preparedness. Given the economic benefits of seasonal influenza immunization [5], [25] and [26] there should be a renewed focus on the burden imposed by influenza and the policies required to limit its effect on public health. HCPs should serve as role models and act in the best interest of their patients by preventing outbreaks through pre-exposure influenza immunization. The authors gratefully acknowledge Shawn Gilchrist, president of S Gilchrist Consulting Services Inc, who contributed services to IFPMA IVS, the Secretariat of the IFPMA and the entire IFPMA IVS working group for their invaluable inputs into the development of the manuscript. “
“Based on the recommendations from international experts

in three WHO consultation meetings [1], [2] and [3] on BCG vaccine, the WHO 1st International Reference Preparation (IRP) for BCG vaccine established in 1965 has been replaced with sub-strain specific BCG Reference Reagents (RRs). They are the BCG Danish 1331, Russian BCG-I and Tokyo 172-1 and they are available for distribution from NIBSC-MHRA (http://www.nibsc.org; NIBSC code: 07/270, 07/272, 07/274 respectively) Endonuclease since 2010. These preparations represent some of the predominant sub-strains used for BCG vaccine production and distribution for use worldwide. Attempts to source the Moreau sub-strain, which would have completed the worldwide coverage, were not successful at the time. The required material was subsequently sourced and the candidate preparation was ampoule-filled for preserving long-term stability. Reference preparations are essential to both vaccine manufacturers and National Control Laboratories in order to monitor quality control assay consistency.

Compound (R)-5; Rf = 0.44 (20:80 ethyl acetate/hexane); off white semi-solid; [α]D25 = −25.33 (c = 0.03 g/100 mL); 1H NMR (400 MHz, MeOD) δ: 2.63 (1H, dd, J = 10.7, 13.3 Hz, H-9a), 2.70-2.72 (1H, m, H-3), 3.15 (1H, dd, J = 4.0, 13.5 Hz, buy Galunisertib H-9b), 3.82 (3H, s, Ar–OCH3-7), 3.87 (3H, s, Ar–OCH3-5), 4.10 (1H, dd, J = 6.9, 11.2 Hz, H-2b), 4.27 (1H, dd, J = 3.9, 11.2 Hz, H-2a), 6.06 (1H,

s, H-6), 6.07 (1H, s, H-8), 6.80 (2H, d, J = 8.4 Hz, H-2′,6′), 7.07 (2H, d, J = 8.4 Hz, H-3′,5′); 13C NMR (100 MHz, MeOD) 32.1 (CH2, C-9), 48.5 (CH, C-3), 55.0 (OCH3, C-7), 55.9 (OCH3, C-5), 68.9 (CH2, C-2), 92.9 (CH, C-8), 93.2 (CH, C-6), 105.3 (C, C-4a), 115.5 (CH, C-3′,5′), 130.2 (C, C-1′), 130.3 (CH, C-2′,6′), 154.5 (C, C-4′), 162.6 (C, C-7), 165.0 (C, C-8a), 165.9 (C,

C-5), 191.7 (C, C-4); HRMS (EI) calcd for C18H19O5 315.1154, found 315.1226. Compound (S)-5; Rf = 0.44 (20:80 CDK inhibitor ethyl acetate/hexane); off white semi-solid; [α]D25 = +25.66 (c = 0.03 g/100 mL); 1H NMR (400 MHz, MeOD) δ: 2.64 (1H, dd, J = 10.4, 13.5, H-9a), 2.69-2.70 (1H, m, H-3), 3.14 (1H, dd, J = 4.1, 13.4 Hz, H-9b), 3.82 (3H, s, Ar–OMe-7), 3.86 (3H, s, Ar–OMe-5), 4.11 (1H, dd, J = 4.2, 7.0 Hz, H-2b), 4.27 (1H, dd, J = 3.9, 11.2 Hz, H-2a), 6.06 (1H, s, H-6), 6.07 (1H, s, H-8), 6.80 (2H, d, J = 8.4 Hz, H-2′,6′), 7.07 (2H, d, J = 8.4 Hz, H-3′,5′); 13C NMR (100 MHz, MeOD) 32.1 (CH2, C-9), 48.5 (CH, C-3), 55.0 (OCH3, C-7), 55.9 (OCH3, C-5), 68.9 (CH2, C-2), 92.8 (CH, C-8), 93.2 (CH, C-6), 105.3 (C, C-4a), 115.5 (CH, C-3′,5′), 130.1 (C, C-1′), 130.2 (CH, C-2′,6′), 154.7 (C, C-4′), 162.6 (C, C-7), 165.0 (C, C-8a), 165.9 (C, C-5), 191.9 (C, C-4); HRMS (EI) calcd for C18H19O5 315.1154, found 315.1220. Compound (R)-5, (S)-5 and the racemate were assessed for their potential anti-inflammatory activity. Ethical approval (003/09/Animal)

from the University of KwaZulu-Natal through Animal Ethics subcommittee was obtained prior to the investigation of acute croton oil-induced auricular dermatitis in a mouse model. Guidelines by the University of KwaZulu-Natal Animal Ethics Subcommittee and Biomedical Resources Unit for the maintenance and treatment of laboratory animals were followed. Eight-week old male Balb/c mice of approximately 30 g each were used.

14 HPLC has preferred analytical tool for fingerprints and quantification of marker

compounds in herbal drugs because of its simplicity, sensitivity, accuracy, suitability for thorough screening etc.15 check details RP-HPLC-PDA has been used in published studies to quantify and characterise of Stigmasterol.10 HPLC analysis was conducted to quantitatively estimate the content of Stigmasterol in the methanolic leaves extract of D. patulus at a detection wavelength of 205 nm. The quantity of Stigmasterol was calculated from the respective peak areas according to individual standard curves. Fig. 1 and Table 3 shows the retention times and peak area of the standard. Fig. 2 and Table 3 indicates the retention times and peak area of the sample and the content of the compound was 0.22 mg/g dry weight (0.022%) ( Table 4). The results of present study

confirm the data LY2157299 previously reported on the identification and quantification of Stigmasterol in plant extract.16 Oxidative stress is marked by elevated tissue lipid peroxidation that in turn leads to cellular damage. This is believed to be a major cause for various diseases including cancer, cardiac problems and diabetes. Antioxidants are also used for the amelioration of different pathological conditions. The lipid peroxidation inhibiting property observed earlier with the whole plant extract of Butea monosperma might be the result of stigmasterol. 17 Stigmasterols or generally during phytosterols were hypothesized to exert their anticancer properties through multiple pathways inclusive of modulations of signal transduction pathways and apoptosis. Phytosterols were found to inhibit tumour growth of non-hormone dependent breast cancer cells via the sphingomyelin pathway. Stigmasterol was reported to induce four to six fold increases in apoptotic death in MDA-MB-231 cells as evidenced by measuring the release of nucleosomes into the cytoplasm. The molecular targets in apoptosis induction by stigmasterols were found to involve down regulation of oncogene c-myc and transcription factor p53.18 Physiochemical analyses have shown the purity and quality of crude drug. The medicinal property of this plant may be

related to their bioactive compounds. Quantitative estimation by HPLC-PDA revealed the presence of good percentage of stigmasterol in D. patulus. This study has grasped the importance since stigmasterol possesses lipid peroxidation inhibitory action and anticancer activity. These features make this plant a promising candidate for the further studies on isolation and pharmacological studies of this compound from D. patulus. All authors have none to declare. “
“Diabetes mellitus (DM) is characterized by abnormal insulin secretion, derangements in carbohydrate/lipid metabolism and is diagnosed by hyperglycaemia.1 and 2 The world prevalence of diabetes among adults is expected to be 6.4%, affecting 285 million adults, in 2010, and will increase to 7.7% i.e.

8, 9, 10 and 11 For quality

control, 2 replicates of positive controls and 1 replicate of negative controls were included in each PCR run to match the concordance. The discrepancy in the concordance was <0.01%. Genotyping success rate was 100% for all the investigated SNPs. The Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium was used with a one-degree of freedom goodness-of-fit test separately among cases and controls with the help of the Pearson chi-square test. Allelic frequencies between test and control samples were done using the chi-square test or the Fisher exact probability test, wherever appropriate. Unconditional logistic regression was used, before and after adjusting for gender, age and other variants for statistical analysis of genetic effects measured by the odds ratio (OR) and its corresponding 95% confidence limits. Association analyzes were performed for each polymorphism using the ‘SNPassoc’ software.12 All samples, including those with T2D (N = 25) Trametinib order and normal glucose tolerant (N = 25), were genotyped for 4 SNP within 4 genes of interest. A total of 4 genes and 4 SNPs were identified for genotyping analysis within each of the samples DAPT from the resource population. The details of the gene name, SNP identification number (reference SNP or the ‘rs’ number), position of the SNP on the chromosome as indicated by Genome Build version 37.1 (the FASTA sequence of the human chromosomes; Build 37; National Council of

Biological Information, USA) and frequency of occurrence of each of the SNPs in the resource population are summarized in Table 3 and Table 4. The genes and their SNPs indicate strong association with conditions of T2D. INS: rs5505 with risk allele ‘T’ was observed in the present study population. The risk allele ‘T’ was found 58% in T2D cases (OR = 1.52) compared to 38% in the control

group thus showing a strong link with decreased insulin level. Among the T2D group, 13 cases had the risk allele ‘T’ as compared to only 5 cases in control group. Same risk allele ‘T’ TCL was also reported by Boesgaard et al (2010) in Danish and Czech populations.13 The insulin gene variable number tandem repeat (INS–VNTR) has been extensively studied and is proposed to exert pleiotropic effects on birth weight and diabetes susceptibility.14 However, evidence for this has been conflicting and a role for INS in type 2 diabetes predisposition has not been definitively established. In the present study INSR: rs10500204 with risk allele ‘C’ was observed. The risk allele ‘C’ was found 54% in T2D cases compared with 42% in the control group but at comparatively lower OR of 1.28 amongst all the SNPs studies. The risk allele ‘C’ was found to be 7 cases of T2D group and only 2 cases in control group. Xu et al (2011) reported the same polymorphic allele of INSR in Han Chinese population.15 A role for INSR in type 2 diabetes and related phenotypes has long been sought.

Detection was performed on a STORM 820 phosphoimager (MOLECULAR DYNAMICS) after a standard chemiluminescence reaction (ECL plus detection system; GE HEALTHCARE). To determine the 50% of lethal dose (LD50) of vNA and FLU-SAG2, female BALB/c mice were anesthetized with 15 mg/kg of ketamine and 0.6 mg/kg of xylazine and inoculated intranasally with 103 to 105 pfu of either virus in 25 μl of PBS. Survival of inoculated animals was followed for 30 days and LD50 endpoint was calculated

according to Reed and Muench’s method [43]. To evaluate influenza multiplication in mouse lungs, female BALB/c mice were anesthetized and infected as described above. Five days later, the animals were sacrificed and lung homogenates were prepared in 3 ml of PBS. Viral loads in lungs were assessed by standard titration under agarose overlay on MDCK cells. Viral RNA was extracted from 250 μl of lung homogenates with Trizol reagent GSK1120212 (INVITROGEN) and analyzed by RT-PCR as described above. Heterologous prime-boost immunizations were performed as follows: Mice were anesthetized Veliparib mouse as described above and received, by intranasal (IN) route, a dose of 103 pfu of vNA or FLU-SAG2 in 25 μl of PBS. Four weeks later, the animals received, by IN or subcutaneous (SC) routes, a boost dose of 108 pfu of Ad-Ctrl

or Ad-SAG2 diluted in 100 μl of PBS. Other groups were prime-immunized by IN route with 103 pfu of vNA and boosted 4 weeks later with a SC dose of 108 pfu of Ad-SAG2 or received a single SC immunization

with 108 pfu of Ad-SAG2. Homologous prime-boost protocols were performed as follows: animals were immunized twice within an 8-week interval by SC route with 108 pfu of Ad-Ctrl or Ad-SAG2 diluted in 100 μl of PBS. Serum and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples were obtained from vaccinated mice 2 weeks after the prime (serum) and boost immunization (serum and BAL), as previously described [39] and [44]. Specific Antibodies (total IgG, IgG2a or IgG1) against SAG2 protein were detected by enzyme-linked Sitaxentan immunosorbent assay (ELISA) as previously described [40]. Briefly, 96-well plates (Maxisorp®, NUNC) were coated overnight with a T. gondii tachyzoite membrane extract enriched for GPI-anchored proteins (F3 fraction), as previously described [40], diluted to 1 μg/ml in 0.2 M sodium carbonate buffer pH = 9.6, at 4 °C. Plates were blocked with PBS supplemented with 2% skimmed milk (block buffer) for 2 h at 37 °C. Undiluted BAL or serum samples diluted 1:50 in block buffer were incubated for 2 h at 37 °C. Secondary antibody consisted of peroxidase-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG (SIGMA) and it was incubated for 1 h at 37 °C. Reactions were detected with 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) reagent (SIGMA), stopped with 2N sulfuric acid and read at 450 nm.

The container with its contents was sealed and kept for a period of 15 days accompanying occasional Hedgehog inhibitor shaking and stirring. The whole mixture then underwent a coarse filtration by a piece of clean, white cotton material and Whatman® filter paper no. 1. The resultant filtrates were then evaporated in water bath maintaining 40 °C to dryness and thus greenish-black (A. conyzoides) and blackish (M. cordifolia) semisolid mass of the extracts were obtained. For the screening of in vivo analgesic potential of crude ethanolic extract of A. conyzoides and M. cordifolia leaves, young Swiss-albino

mice aged 4–5 weeks (either sex), average weight 20–25 g were used. They were collected from the Animal Resources Branch of ICDDR, Selleckchem Caspase inhibitor B (International Centre for Diarrheal Disease and Research, Bangladesh). After collection, they were kept in favorable condition for one week for adaptation and fed rodent food and water ad libitum

formulated by ICDDR, B. The experiment was carried out according to the protocol approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of NSTU Research Cell, Noakhali Science and Technology University, and maintaining the internationally recognized principles for laboratory animal use and care. In the experiment, Diclofenac Sodium (donated by Opsonin Pharma Ltd., Bangladesh) was used as standard. Tween 80 and acetic acid used were of analytical grade (Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany). 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH), Trichloroacetic acid (TCA), l-Ascorbic acid, Butylated Hydroxy Anisole (BHA), Tolmetin gallic acid, Folin–Ciocalteu phenol reagent, phosphate buffer (pH 6.6), potassium ferricyanide [K3Fe(CN)6] (1%), distilled water, EDTA, ferrozine, FeCl2 and FeCl3 (0.1%) were of analytical grade and purchased from Merck (Darmstadt, Germany). Analgesic potential of the ethanolic extract of A. conyzoides and M. cordifolia leaves were tested using the model of acetic acid induced writhing in mice.

9 and 10 Experimental animals (n = 5) were randomly selected and divided into four groups denoted as group I, group II, group III, group IV. Each mouse was weighed properly and the doses of the test samples and control materials were adjusted accordingly. Each group received a particular treatment i.e. control, positive control (standard Diclofenac Na) and two doses (250 and 500 mg/kg-body weight) of the extract solution. Positive control group was administered at the dose of 25 mg/kg-body weight and control group was treated with 1% Tween 80 in water at the dose of 15 ml/kg-body weight. Test samples, standard drug and vehicle were administered orally 30 min before intraperitoneal administration of 0.7% acetic acid. After an interval of 15 min, the mice were observed writhing (constriction of abdomen, turning of trunk and extension of hind legs) for 5 min. There are various well known methods, which are followed to determine the antioxidant properties of plant extracts. The antioxidant activities of ethanol extract of the leaves of A. conyzoides and M.

One participant was withdrawn before undertaking the control intervention due to unstable lung disease and one participant was withdrawn before undertaking Apoptosis inhibitor the experimental intervention for psychological reasons. The second intervention arm occurred at the next scheduled quarterly visit for 18 participants. For the remaining participants, because of unavailability or clinical instability, the second session was done at 5 months for one patient, 6 months for ten patients, and at 9, 10 and 14

months for one participant each. Primary outcome: The wet weight of expectorated sputum was slightly higher after the experimental intervention than after the control intervention, but the mean difference of 0.6 g (95% CI –0.2 to 1.4) was not statistically significant in the analysis, which took into account sequence and period effects (Table 4). Individual data are presented in Table 5 (see eAddenda for Table 5). Secondary outcomes: On average, FEV1 as a percentage of the predicted value improved by 2% after the experimental intervention and deteriorated by 1% after the control intervention (Table 3). Individual data are presented in Table 5 (see eAddenda for Table 5). The mean difference just reached statistical significance at 3% (95% CI 0 to 6). In

relative terms, FEV1 improved with the experimental intervention by 2.7% (SD 6.8%) and deteriorated with the control intervention by 0.5 (SD 6.0%), which equated to a statistically significant mean difference of 3.2% (95% CI 0.5 to 6.0). After the experimental intervention, co-operation was rated Idelalisib in vivo as excellent or good for 30 (94%)

of the 32 completing participants and poor for two (6%) participants. The results were similar after the control intervention with co-operation rated as excellent or good for 31 (97%) of participants and poor for one (3%). This difference was not statistically significant (RR = 1.03, 95% CI 0.93 to 1.15). The quality of the experimental intervention was rated as excellent or good by 27 (84%) of the 32 completing participants. The quality of the control intervention was rated as excellent or good by 30 (94%) participants. No participants rated either intervention as poor. This difference was again not statistically significant (RR = 1.11, 95% CI 0.93 to 1.32). The mean satisfaction score was 89 (SD 16) after the experimental intervention and at 72 (SD 27) after chest physiotherapy L-NAME HCl (Table 4). The result of the Tobit model, taking into account period and sequence effects, estimated a mean between-group difference of 24, which was statistically significant (95% CI 10 to 38). A period effect was also identified with a greater satisfaction score after the first period than after the second period. The difference in mean score between the two periods was estimated at 19 (95% CI 5 to 32). In a post hoc subgroup analysis, the difference in the mean satisfaction score between the two interventions was greater in children aged 12 years or less than in children over 12 years old.

In addition, the use of brPEI-pcDNA1/MOMPopt improved the potency of the DNA vaccine following aerosol delivery. However, the vaccine formulation and delivery route need to be adapted to obtain a more homogenous vaccine distribution in the upper and lower airways of the birds and to lower the vaccine dose. Delphine S.A. Beeckman Epigenetics inhibitor is a post-doctoral fellow of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO-Vlaanderen) and this institution is acknowledged

for providing a grant. “
“Many infectious pathogens come into contact with the host at mucosal surfaces. Conventional parenteral vaccines are generally ineffective at eliciting mucosal immunity [1], [2] and [3]. Recent efforts have focused on the development of mucosal vaccines in an attempt to combat invading pathogens at the site of contact by efficiently inducing both mucosal and systemic immune responses. However, one major drawback is the intrinsic low immunogenicity of many protein antigens when administered mucosally. Therefore, the need for mucosal adjuvants is pivotal for development of effective and safe mucosal vaccines. The most widely studied mucosal adjuvants are the cholera toxin (CT) from Vibrio cholerae, and its close relative, the heat-labile Protein Tyrosine Kinase inhibitor enterotoxin (LT) from Escherichia coli. Aside from their functioning as enterotoxins, both CT and LT have been shown to function as potent adjuvants via

binding to the ganglioside GM1 receptor, which results in cellular activation, expression of surface molecules and cytokine production [4]. However, intranasal delivery of these bacterial enterotoxins may induce neurotoxic

effects [5] and [6]. Mutant forms of cholera (mCT) and heat-labile toxin (mLT), which lack toxicity while retaining adjuvanticity, have been described [7]. The development of a safe, non-toxic mucosal adjuvant that can be delivered intranasally would be an attractive alternative to bacterial toxins. The first described viral enterotoxin is the rotavirus nonstructural ADP ribosylation factor protein 4 (NSP4). NSP4 is capable of inducing dose- and age-dependent diarrhea in neonatal mice without causing histological alterations [8]. A cleavage product, NSP4(112–175), found in the supernatant of rotavirus-infected cell cultures [9] can cause Ca2+ mobilization in vitro and induce dose- and age-dependent diarrhea in vivo, just like the full-length protein. Since bacterial toxins, such as CT and LT, are well established to function as potent mucosal adjuvants, we asked if NSP4 also possesses adjuvant activity. In this study we tested the viral enterotoxin NSP4 from several virus strains for adjuvant activity in mice following intranasal administration of classical model protein antigens and evaluated the mucosal and systemic antibody responses. Six- to eight-week-old inbred BALB/c female mice were obtained from Charles River Laboratories (Wilmington, MA). All animals were housed in microisolator cages throughout the study period as previously described [10] and [11].

It is noteworthy perhaps that the individuals with a positive neutralizing antibody score against either HPV59 ROCK inhibitor or HPV68 were also in the highest tertile of vaccine-type HPV18 neutralizing antibody titers, suggesting that responses against these types, although not significant overall and a rare

occurrence (<5% of vaccinees), may indeed be vaccine-related. The fewer number of samples positive for neutralizing antibodies against non-vaccine HPV types from the A7 species group, being almost exclusively directed against HPV45, than from the A9 species group, is likely to be related to the lower (3.5 fold) titers generated against the vaccine-type HPV18 compared to HPV16, which appears to be a common finding

for the HPV vaccines [12], [30], [31] and [32]. Cross-neutralizing antibody titers were substantially lower (<1%) than vaccine-type titers and the gap between these two measures widened with increasing vaccine-type titer. These observations suggest that individuals who elicit the highest antibody responses against vaccine types generate the highest absolute levels of cross-reactive antibodies but the lowest cross-reactive responses as a function of their vaccine-type responses, perhaps Selleck Cisplatin reflecting the immunodominance of the type-specific neutralizing epitope(s) relative to the cross-reactive epitope(s). A recent study [20] provided evidence for significant cross-neutralization of HPV31 and HPV45 (but not HPV52 and HPV58) pseudovirions using sera taken from 18 to 25 year old women six months after immunization with the bivalent HPV vaccine as part of a clinical trial in Costa Rica [33]. Antibody cross-reactivity against HPV45 has also been reported for the quadrivalent HPV vaccine, Gardasil®[21]. The discrepant observations concerning HPV52 and HPV58 between this study and the analysis by Kemp et al.

[20] may be due to differences in the ages of the study participants, a parameter known to have an impact on HPV vaccine immunogenicity GBA3 [31]. We have expanded the currently available panel of HPV L1L2 pseudoviruses to represent all those HPV types within the vaccine-related A9 (16, 31, 33, 35, 52, and 58) and A7 (18, 39, 45, 59, 68) species groups that have been considered by the International Agency for Research on Cancer to be at least ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’ [13]. We are not aware of any published data on the measurement of cross-neutralizing antibodies elicited against the closely related, non-vaccine types HPV33, HPV35, HPV39, HPV59 and HPV68 by either HPV vaccine. We did not have pre-vaccine sera, or sera from unvaccinated 13–14 year old girls, with which to gauge background levels of naturally induced HPV antibodies and non-specific assay interference.