title: Evaluation of 10 serological assays for diagnosing Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection.
abstract: In this study, the performance of 10 serological assays for the diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection was evaluated. A total of 145 sera from 120 patients were tested. They were obtained from patients who were serologically positive for M. pneumoniae infection as well as from patients who were infected with micro-organisms that may cause interstitial pneumonia. The following assays were utilized: SeroMP IgM and IgG, SeroMP recombinant IgM, IgA and IgG, Liaison M. pneumoniae IgM and IgG and M. pneumoniae IgM, IgA and IgG ELISA Medac. The SeroMP Recombinant and Liaison assays both showed low IgM specificity, and crossreactivity was mainly observed in groups of patients with acute cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus infections. For IgA, the Medac assay was less specific than the SeroMP Recombinant assay. Discrepancies between the four tests were observed in IgG analyses, and due to the lack of a gold standard, 22 results were removed prior to determining the sensitivity and specificity. Therefore, the overall performance of IgG assays may be overstated; nevertheless, the SeroMP assay demonstrated a lack of sensitivity. The seroprevalence of IgG appears to be very low, raising concerns regarding whether the serological techniques can detect IgG levels over time. Serology remains a biological tool of choice for diagnosing M. pneumoniae infection, but improvement and standardization of the assays are needed, particularly for the determination of IgG.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Porte de Hal Laboratory, Saint-Pierre University Hospital & Jules Bordet Institute, Brussels, Belgium. laurent_busson@stpierre-bru.be
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Busson
authors.forename: Sigi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Van den Wijngaert
authors.forename: Hafid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dahma
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Decolvenaer
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Di Cesare
authors.forename: Agnes
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Liesbet
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vasseur
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Vandenberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000097:blood; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D009177:Mycoplasma pneumoniae; D011019:Pneumonia, Mycoplasma / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M
references.citation: Clin Microbiol Rev. 1997 Apr;10(2):242-56
references.pmid: 9105753
references.citation: Clin Diagn Lab Immunol. 2000 Sep;7(5):734-8
references.pmid: 10973446
references.citation: Clin Infect Dis. 1993 Aug;17 Suppl 1:S37-46
references.pmid: 8399936
references.citation: Eur Respir J. 2012 Oct;40(4):931-8
references.pmid: 22267760
references.citation: Clin Microbiol Rev. 2004 Oct;17(4):697-728, table of contents
references.pmid: 15489344
references.citation: J Clin Microbiol. 2010 Sep;48(9):3380-2
references.pmid: 20610673
references.citation: Clin Diagn Lab Immunol. 2004 Sep;11(5):862-7
references.pmid: 15358644
references.citation: J Clin Microbiol. 2003 Nov;41(11):4915-23
references.pmid: 14605118
references.citation: J Clin Microbiol. 2006 Feb;44(2):643-5
references.pmid: 16455935
references.citation: Euro Surveill. 2012 Feb 09;17(6):
references.pmid: 22340972
references.citation: J Clin Microbiol. 2001 Mar;39(3):1184-6
references.pmid: 11230455
references.citation: Clin Diagn Lab Immunol. 2000 Sep;7(5):778-80
references.pmid: 10973454
references.citation: J Clin Microbiol. 2005 May;43(5):2277-85
references.pmid: 15872256
references.citation: Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2012 Jun;73(2):200-3
references.pmid: 22502960