title: Monoclonal antibodies against Haemophilus ducreyi lipooligosaccharide and their diagnostic usefulness.
abstract: Monoclonal antibodies against the lipooligosaccharide of Haemophilus ducreyi were produced. Two of them, MAHD6 and MAHD7, were found to be relatively, although not absolutely, specific and reacted with nearly all strains of Haemophilus ducreyi tested: 59 of 60 and 60 of 60, respectively. The diagnostic usefulness of MAHD7 was assessed. Clinical specimens collected in Zambia from patients with genital ulcers were tested using indirect immunofluorescence (IF), enzyme immunoassay (EIA), the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and bacterial culture. Compared with culture, IF had a sensitivity of 100%; compared with PCR, sensitivity was 89%. The corresponding figures for the EIA were 83% and 74%, respectively. The sensitivity of culture compared with PCR was 63%. The results suggest that IF on genital smears using MAHD7 might be an excellent tool for the diagnosis of chancroid in high-prevalence populations. However, further evaluation of the specificity of this test is needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Microbiology, Pathology and Infectious Diseases, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge Hospital, Sweden.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Borrelli
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jonasson
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Eriksson
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hanson
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Höjer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sunkuntu
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Musaba
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Roggen
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lagergård
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000276:immunology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002602:Chancroid / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D006191:Haemophilus ducreyi / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; C023023:lipid-linked oligosaccharides