Evaluation of three methods to measure anti-Brucella IgM antibodies and interference of IgA in the interpretation of mercaptan-based tests

• Published in: Journal of medical microbiology Vol. 50; no. 8; pp. 663 - 666
• Main Authors: MARRODAN, T, NENOVA-POLIAKOVA, R, RUBIO, M, ARIZA, J, CLAVIJO, E, SMITS, H.L, DIAZ, R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Reading Soc General Microbiol 01.08.2001; Society for General Microbiology
• Subjects: Agglutination Tests - methods; Antibodies, Bacterial - analysis; Biological and medical sciences; Brucella; Brucella - immunology; Brucellosis - diagnosis; Brucellosis - immunology; Dithiothreitol; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - methods; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Immunoenzyme Techniques; Immunoglobulin A - analysis; Immunoglobulin M - analysis; Lipopolysaccharides - immunology; mercaptan; Microbiology; Human; IgA; Antibody; Acute; Brucella; IgM; Infection; Brucellaceae; Bacteriosis; Lipopolysaccharide; Bacteria; Brucellosis; Serum; Detection; ELISA assay
• ISSN: 0022-2615; 1473-5644
• DOI: 10.1099/0022-1317-50-8-663

*Departamento de Microbiología, Servicio de Microbiología Clínica, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona Spain, Servicio de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital de Bellvitge, Barcelona, Spain, Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital Virgen de la Victoria, Málaga, Spain and Department of Biomedical Research, Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Corresponding author: Dr R. Diaz (e-mail: rdiaz{at}unav.es ). ||Present address: National Center of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, 44A General Stoletov BLD, BG-1233, Sofia, Bulgaria. Received 28 July 2000; revised version accepted 4 Jan. 2001. Abstract The results of a dipstick assay for the detection of immunoglobulin M (IgM) to Brucella smooth lipopolysaccharide (S-LPS) correlated with those of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for IgM and of the serum agglutination test (SAT) performed with and without dithiothreitol. Two sera which were dithiothreitol-sensitive and were dipstick negative were shown to contain specific IgA. The dipstick assay is recommended as a simple method for detecting specific IgM antibodies in acute-phase brucellosis patients.