title: Comparison of assays for antibody to HTLVI.
abstract: Indirect immunofluorescence, competitive radioimmunoassay, HTLV I-enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and gelatin particle agglutination Serodia-ATLA were compared in terms of their ability to detect antibody to human T cell leukaemia virus I (HTLV I). The sensitivities were 96.9%, 92%, 97.0%, and 100%, respectively, and the specificities 99.3%, 98.9%, 98.6%, and 96.3%. Particle agglutination was very simple to perform and was the most sensitive, though the least specific test. Antibody titres were 10-100 times higher when measured by particle agglutination than by other tests, and antibody titers were considerably higher in patients with neurological disease related to HTLV I than in those with other conditions. Serodia-ATLA is the method of choice for preliminary screening of specimens for antibody to HTLV I, but positive results must be confirmed by another technique.
authors.affiliation: Virus Reference Laboratory, Central Public Health Laboratory, Colindale, London.
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D017977:Deltaretrovirus / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D015483:HIV Antibodies; D006801:Humans; D008863:Microspheres; D011863:Radioimmunoassay
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D015483:HIV Antibodies