Pre- and postvaccination sera from individuals who had been vaccinated with live Jeryl-Lynn vaccine were assayed for mumps antibodies by using serum neutralization (NT), enzymed-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), hemolysis-in gel (HIG), hemagglutination inhibition (HI) and complement fixation (CF) techniques. ELISA was found to be equally specific and somewhat more sensitive than NT. HIG was less sensitive than either of these two and, with some specimens, less specific. However, it was more sensitive than HI. CF gave several low positive readings which were interpreted as false positive since they were found in prevaccination sera and other tests failed to detect antibodies in these samples. The ELISA mumps test can be used in place of the more expensive and time consuming neutralization test for screening epidemiology, documenting immunity and establishing the serological diagnosis.
Journal Article Evaluation of Commercially Available Diagnostic Test Kits for Rubella Get access G. A. Castellano, G. A. Castellano Microbiological Associates, Bethesda, MarylandInfectious Diseases Branch, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland Please address requests for reprints to Dr. G. A. Castellano, Microbiological Associates, 5221 River Road, Bethesda, Maryland 20016. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar D. L. Madden, D. L. Madden Microbiological Associates, Bethesda, MarylandInfectious Diseases Branch, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar G. T. Hazzard, G. T. Hazzard Microbiological Associates, Bethesda, MarylandInfectious Diseases Branch, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar C. S. Cleghorn, C. S. Cleghorn Microbiological Associates, Bethesda, MarylandInfectious Diseases Branch, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar D. V. Vails, D. V. Vails Microbiological Associates, Bethesda, MarylandInfectious Diseases Branch, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar A. C. Ley, A. C. Ley Microbiological Associates, Bethesda, MarylandInfectious Diseases Branch, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar N. R. Tzan, N. R. Tzan Microbiological Associates, Bethesda, MarylandInfectious Diseases Branch, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar J. L. Sever J. L. Sever Microbiological Associates, Bethesda, MarylandInfectious Diseases Branch, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Volume 143, Issue 4, April 1981, Pages 578–584, https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/143.4.578 Published: 01 April 1981 Article history Received: 12 September 1980 Revision received: 13 January 1981 Published: 01 April 1981
Abstract Healthy homosexual men between the ages of 21 and 65 years, from the Washington, DC (n = 162), and New York City (n = 89) areas, were studied for antibodies in the serum against cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex virus (HSV) types 1 and 2, and Epstein Barr virus (EBV) viral capsid antigen (VCA). CMV‐specific antibodies were assayed by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), anti‐HSV‐1 and ‐2 antibodies were measured by indirect hemagglutination (IHA), and antibodies to EBV VCA were measured by the immunofluorescence assay. Antibodies to human T lymphotrophic virus III (HTLV‐III) were detected by ELISA and Western blot procedures. T lymphocytes were enumerated using OKT4 monoclonal antibody. Healthy male volunteer blood donors (n = 90) matched for age range and race proportions were used as controls. The percentage of seropositive individuals in the homosexual group was higher (90–98 %) for all the viruses tested than in the control group (47–87%). Comparisons of the geometric mean titers, expressed as reciprocal serum dilutions, of seropositive individuals in homosexual (H) vs control (C) group were as follows: CMV‐IgG (ELISA) H = 1:794, C = 1:68; HSV‐1 (IHA) H = 1: 248, C = 1:14; HSV‐2 (IHA) H = 1:56, C = 1:17; EBV‐VCA (IFA) H = 1:385, C = 1:131. The homosexual group also showed a higher frequency of individuals with elevated titers than the control group. The CMV IgM antibody was prevalent in 17.7% of the homosexual group and 5% of the control group; arithmetic means for ELISA values for CMV IgM were 0.207 for the homosexual group and 0.05 for the control group. In the homosexual group, the anti‐CMV antibody titers increased with age (P = 0.01) and with numbers of sex partners (P = 0.06). Both anti‐HSV‐1 and anti‐HSV‐2 antibodies correlated with the number of sex partners (P = 0.04 and P = 0.05, respectively). Neither age nor partner number correlated with response to EBV, and no particular sex act was related to the EBV VCA titer level. HTLV‐III seropositivity was associated with higher herpes virus group antibody titers, probably because of life style cofactors. Among the HTLV‐111‐seropositive subjects, those with ≤ 400 T‐helper lymphocytes/mm 3 had lower antibody titers than those with ≥ 400 T‐helper lymphocytes/mm 3 counts, suggesting an impaired immune response secondary to immunosuppression.
To investigate the possible occurrence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or human T-cell lymphotropic virus, type I (HTLV-I) infections in the United States prior to 1979-1981, when acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was first recognized, we tested sera from 310 pregnant women who participated in the Collaborative Perinatal Project during the period 1959-1964 for HIV and HTLV-I antibody. These samples included sera from 53 pregnant women who were intravenous drug users. The remainder were from women who had cervical epithelial abnormalities, who developed cervical carcinomas, who had had children with erythroblastosis fetalis, who had had children that developed malignant neoplasms early in life, or normal pregnant women. None of the 310 women had confirmed HIV or HTLV-I antibody. The rate of false-positive reactions with the HIV enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) antibody test in these long-frozen samples was similar to that observed in fresh sera. HIV antibody was detected in homosexual patients with AIDS; HTLV-I antibody was not detected in any of these sera. HTLV-I antibody was detected in 17 of 20 patients with tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP) and in two of seven patients with other neurological diseases diagnosed as transverse myelopathy and multiple sclerosis, and in none of nine normal controls; HIV antibody was not detected in any of these sera patients. Thus, we conclude that there was no serological evidence of infection with HIV or HTLV-I in the pregnant women studied; however, HIV antibody was present in all AIDS patients tested, and HTLV-I antibody was found in the majority of patients with TSP.
Physicians often rely on serology to help determine whether a patient has had a recent infection with Toxoplasma gondii and as an aid in estimating the possible teratogenic effect on the fetus. For this reason the diagnostic laboratory should take every precaution to avoid misleading results. The best serological analysis is based on a rise in IgG titer with two appropriately spaced serum samples. Also, the presence of a high IgM titer in one serum sample is generally considered to be good evidence that infection has occurred recently. The indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) test has been the most widely used test for detection of IgG or IgM. Recently enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) have also been developed for this purpose. In this study we reaffirm that false IgM positive results can occur with these tests because of the presence of rheumatoid factor in serum, and false negative results can also occur because of competitive inhibition by specific IgG. We show that a preabsorption of serum with a Staphylococcus/Streptococcus preparation (Staffinoc, MA Bioproducts, Walkersville, MD) removes IgG and IgA and eliminates many of the false reactions. We have also found that elevated levels of specific IgM can persist for at least several years in some women. This suggests that the presence of IgM alone is not always an indication of recent infection.
We have tested sera from patients with multiple sclerosis, matched controls, and those with other neurological diseases, as well as sera from patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and controls and patients with tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP) and controls for antibody to human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I), HTLV-II, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), simian T-lymphotropic virus type III, or simian retrovirus type I by immunofluorescent activity test, and for HTLV-I and HIV by the ELISA method. Sera from patients with multiple sclerosis and matched controls, and from patients with optic neuritis and Parkinson's or other neuromuscular diseases did not have antibody to any of the retroviruses tested. Specimens from TSP patients and some controls contained HTLV-I antibody. We conclude from our study that only TSP patients had serological evidence of infection with one of the retroviruses studied.
The hemagglutination inhibition test (HAI) and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detecting antibody to rubella virus were compared by testing 25 sets of paired sera taken before and after infection and 10 sets of sera taken during acute and convalescent stages of the disease and by screening 700 serum samples from the Collaborative Perinatal Project, NIH/NINCDS. The tests were found to be comparable in their ability to detect positive and negative sera, rises in titers, and seroconversions. When a purified antigen and carefully prepared reagents were used, ELISA was found to be as accurate and reliable as HAI. ELISA required no pretreatment of serum, could easily be automated, and was less time-consuming than HAI.
