title: Evaluation of the specificity of pneumococcal polysaccharide enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and the effect of serum adsorption based on standard pneumococcal serogroup- or serotype-specific rabbit antisera.
abstract: Worldwide, Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality, especially in infants and elderly people. Pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides are well characterized, and more than 90 different serotypes have been identified. Serotype-specific antibodies against the capsular polysaccharide are produced during infection. Detection of antibodies against pneumococci by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is performed according to WHO guidelines, using antigens provided by ATCC. However, testing the ELISA for specificity is challenging due to the difficulty in obtaining human naïve serum with pneumococcal antibodies as well as human serum with antibodies against a single serotype. The application of well-defined serotype-specific sera produced in animals to evaluate the specificity of the ATCC antigens and the effect of adsorption with cell wall and 22F polysaccharides has not been performed before, to our knowledge. In this study, the specificity of ATCC antigens (serotypes 4, 6B, 9V, 14, 18C, 19F, and 23F) was tested by using commercial serotype-, serogroup-, and pool-specific pneumococcal rabbit antisera.
authors: Department of Bacteriology, Mycology and Parasitology, Division of Microbiology and Diagnostics, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark. hcs@ssi.dk
authors: Hans-Christian
authors: HC
authors: Slotved
authors: Christina
authors: C
authors: Guttmann
authors: Charlotte Demuth
authors: CD
authors: Pedersen
authors: Jasper Neergaard
authors: JN
authors: Jacobsen
authors: Karen Angeliki
authors: KA
authors: Krogfelt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000276:immunology; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology; D011817:Rabbits; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D007106:Immune Sera; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial