A synthetic peptide ELISA for the screening of rubella virus neutralizing antibodies in order to ascertain immunity.
One hundred and fifty-one human sera from patients exposed to rubella virus (RV) and shown to be negative for IgM antibodies were tested for total RV-IgG, hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) and for virus neutralizing (VN) antibodies using a peptide enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on BCH-178, a peptide representing one of several known neutralizing epitopes on RV hemagglutinin (E1). The data showed that, among 39 and 51 sera with HAI and RV-IgG titres of 1/128 and >150 IU/ml, respectively, neutralizing antibody readings using the BCH-178 ELISA were above cut-off values. However, 13% of HAI positive sera (titre > or =1/16) and 16% of RV-IgG ELISA positive sera (> or =20 IU/ml) were below the cut-off value of the BCH-178 ELISA. This may explain why several cases of congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) have been observed in spite of positive titres. We suggest that a diagnosis of sufficient immunity against RV infection or reinfection may be safer if an additional test detecting antibodies against VN RV epitopes is positive as well.
Giessauf
Andreas
A
Institut für Hygiene und Sozialmedizin, Leopold-Franzens-University Innsbruck, Fritz Pregl-Str. 3, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria. andreas.giessauf@uni-graz.at
Letschka
Thomas
T
Walder
Gernot
G
Dierich
Manfred P
MP
Würzner
Reinhard
R
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods*; D018985:Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006385:Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000276:immunology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012412:Rubella virus / Q000276:immunology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D018985:Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte; D010455:Peptides; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C040901:rubella antibodies; C061826:E1 envelope protein, Rubella virus