Development of immunoglobulin G enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the serodiagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is an emerging infectious disease caused by a novel SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). The clinical characteristics are high fever, rapidly progressive diffuse pneumonitis and respiratory distress. It is highly infectious through intimate contact or direct contact with infectious body fluids. Outbreaks within communities and hospitals have been reported. Development of rapid and reliable diagnostic tools is urgently needed. We developed an immunoglobulin G (IgG) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), using whole virus antigen of SARS-CoV. Eighty-six serum samples collected from patients who were hospitalized for other causes were examined to determine the cut-off O.D. value. The cut-off O.D. value was defined as 0.175 by calculating the mean O.D. value of the 86 sera plus 3 standard deviations. To determine the sensitivity and specificity of the ELISA, 56 positive sera and 204 negative sera were tested. The sensitivity was 96.4% and the specificity was 100%. The results suggest that the IgG ELISA using whole virus antigen of SARS-CoV has a high sensitivity and specificity in detecting SARS IgG antibodies. This IgG ELISA is a powerful tool for serodiagnosis of SARS.
Shao
Pei-Lan
PL
Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Hsueh
Po-Ren
PR
Chang
Luan-Yin
LY
Lu
Chun-Yi
CY
Kao
Chuan-Liang
CL
Chiang
Yu-Ping
YP
Huang
Hsiang-Yi
HY
Huang
Fu-Yuan
FY
Lee
Chin-Yun
CY
Chang
Lung-Ji
LJ
Wu
T-C
TC
Huang
Li-Min
LM
D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis*; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000276:immunology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods*; D045169:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic
D000956:Antigens, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G