title: The solid phase radioimmunoassay technique for hepatitis B (surface) antigen: effects of progressive modification.
abstract: Serum specimens submitted for confirmation of hepatitis B antigen (HBsAg) reactivity were tested by counterelectrophoresis (CEP) and by three modifications of the solid phase radioimmunoassay "sandwich" technique (SPRIA). In addition, the specificity of each reaction was determined for two of the SPRIA test methods. One hundred seventy-five of the 688 specimens were reactive by all techniques and a further 60 ere specifically reactive by two of modifications of SPRIA. An additional five specimens were positive by a third SPRIA modification. The primary SPRIA technique, using a homologous guinea pig antibody sandwich, detected 184 nonspecific reactive samples. With the same test done at 45C with a reduced incubation time, there were only 37 nonspecific reactive samples. None of the nonspecific samples was detected when the SPRIA technique used a heterologous guinea pig-human antibody sandwich. The results provide a basis for estimating the effectiveness of the SPRIA technique for HBsAg testing.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001782:Blood Donors; D003378:Counterimmunoelectrophoresis; D000939:Epitopes; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006511:Hepatitis B Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007106:Immune Sera; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D011863:Radioimmunoassay / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D006511:Hepatitis B Antigens; D007106:Immune Sera