Mucosal immunity may provide a defense against human papillomavirus (HPV) but there are no FDA-approved adjuvants capable of stimulating immune responses within mucosal tissues. After mice were immunized intranasally three times with HPV16 L1 virus-like particles plus with JY adjuvant, which is composed of interleukin-2 and chitosan, sera IgG antibody titer, sera neutralizing antibody titer, sIgA concentration in respiratory tract washes, sIgA concentration in vaginal washes and the number of spot-forming cells (SFC) in splenic lymphocytes were 320 +/- A 15, 40 +/- A 2, 27 +/- A 1.3, 27 +/- A 1.7 mu g/ml and 176.7 +/- A 6 SFC/10(6), respectively; In the group without JY adjuvant, the outcomes were 80 +/- A 9.4, null, 22 +/- A 1, 20 +/- A 2.4 mu g/ml and 91 +/- A 5.2 SFC/10(6), respectively. Therefore, JY adjuvant may be an effective mucosal adjuvant for HPV vaccine in mice.