title: Comparison of complement fixation test and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of early infection with Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae.
abstract: The relative merits of the complement-fixation test (CF) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of the early antibody response to Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae were evaluated. Discriminant analysis, a statistical procedure, was used to avoid difficulties associated with variation in background color and nonspecific reactions obtained with ELISA with different sera. Specific-pathogen-free pigs were exposed by contact to other specific-pathogen-free pigs which had been inoculated with M hyopneumoniae intratracheally (experiment A) or intranasally (experiment B) 18 to 21 days previously. Sera were collected from each pig before contact exposure and once a week until necropsy. Antibodies were detected by CF at postexposure (PE) week 3 in animals in experiment A (6 of 18) and at PE week 5 in experiment B (3 of 12). The ELISA antibodies were detected at 2 weeks after beginning of contact exposure in experiments A (4 of 18) and B (1 of 12). Examination of pooled data for experiments A and B indicated that ELISA was substantially (P less than 0.05) more sensitive for detection of antibodies than was the CF test at 3 to 5 weeks after contact exposure began. At PE weeks 6 and 7, both tests were similarly effective in detecting M hyopneumoniae antibodies.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D003168:Complement Fixation Tests; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D009174:Mycoplasma / Q000276:immunology; D009175:Mycoplasma Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial