Secreted portion of glycoprotein g of herpes simplex virus type 2 is a novel antigen for type-discriminating serology.
The secreted portion of glycoprotein G (sgG-2) of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) was evaluated as a novel antigen in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) format for detection of type-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies in HSV-2-infected patients. The results were compared with those obtained by a commercially available assay, the HerpeSelect 2 ELISA (the FOCUS2 assay). Five different panels of sera were analyzed: panel A consisted of 109 serum samples from patients with a culture-proven HSV-1 infection that were Western blotting (WB) negative for HSV-2; panel B consisted of 106 serum samples from patients with a culture-proven recurrent HSV-2 infection that were WB positive for HSV-2; panel C consisted of 100 serum samples with no detectable IgG antibodies against HSV-1 and HSV-2; panel D consisted of 70 HSV-2 negative "tricky" serum samples containing antinuclear IgG antibodies or IgM antibodies against other viruses or bacteria; and panel E consisted of consecutive serum samples from 21 patients presenting with a first episode of HSV-2-induced lesions. When sera in panels A to C were analyzed, the sgG-2 ELISA and the FOCUS2 assay both showed sensitivities and specificities of >or=98%. In total, among the samples in panel D, 13 serum samples (19%) were false positive by the FOCUS2 assay and 1 serum sample (1.4%) was false positive by the sgG-2 ELISA. When the sera in panel E were analyzed, the sgG-2 ELISA detected seroconversion somewhat later than WB or the FOCUS2 assay did. We conclude that sgG-2 induces an HSV-2 type-specific antibody response and can be used for type-discriminating serology.
Görander
Staffan
S
Department of Virology, Göteborg University, S-413 46 Göteborg, Sweden.
Svennerholm
Bo
B
Liljeqvist
Jan-Ake
JA
D001800:Blood Specimen Collection / Q000379:methods; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000276:immunology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018258:Herpesvirus 2, Human / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012703:Serotyping / Q000379:methods; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000032:analysis*
D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C045464:glycoprotein G, herpes simplex virus type 2