Development of a dot-immunoenzyme filtration assay for the detection of enterovirus 71 antigen in human serum via immunoglobulin M.
OBJECTIVE
This study evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of a rapid, sensitive dot-immunoenzyme filtration assay to detect enterovirus 71 (EV71) antigen in serum samples from paediatric patients with hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), through detection of anti-EV71 immunoglobulin  (Ig)M.


METHODS
Serum samples from HFMD patients and healthy adult controls were evaluated for the presence of anti-EV71 IgM using a dot-immunoenzyme filtration assay (DIEFA). The results were compared with those obtained using a dot-immunogold filtration assay (DIGFA). The EV71 structural  protein VP1 was used as the antigen for both assays.


RESULTS
Serum samples from 72 HFMD patients and 54 healthy controls were evaluated. The DIGFA procedure showed a sensitivity of 98.5% and a specificity of 100%, whereas the DIEFA procedure showed a sensitivity of 98.6% and a specificity  of 98.0%. There were no significant differences between the assays in either specificity or sensitivity.


CONCLUSIONS
The DIEFA procedure developed in this study has potential as a rapid, simple, sensitive and cost-effective screening technique for detecting EV71 antigen in serum samples from  patients with HFMD.
Department of Biotechnology, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing, China.
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D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D001483:Base Sequence; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D017931:DNA Primers; D029821:Enterovirus A, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D005374:Filtration / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000276:immunology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
D000956:Antigens, Viral; D017931:DNA Primers; D007075:Immunoglobulin M