title: Detection of neutralizing antibodies against human cytomegalovirus: influence of strain variation.
abstract: The influence of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) strain variation on neutralizing antibody titers was investigated in sequential sera obtained from 12 organ transplant recipients (11 renal transplant recipients, 1 liver transplant patient) suffering from primary or secondary HCMV infection. Cross-neutralization assays using either the international HCMV reference strain AD169 or individual clinical isolates from patients showed congruent results. Restriction enzyme analysis of the hypervariable alpha-sequence of the L-S junction of AD169 and HCMV isolates amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were carried out to confirm the expected strain differences. At least 6 groups of clinical strains were differentiated. The results of this study demonstrated that despite the strain heterogenicity of HCMV, the neutralization assay using AD169 permitted a reliable and quantitative serologic detection of neutralizing antibodies against HCMV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Virology, University Clinics of Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Klinghardt
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lux
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rabenau
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Doerr
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D003429:Cross Reactions; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000032:analysis; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000032:analysis; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012703:Serotyping
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M