Detection of Antibodies in Human Serum Against the Fimbrial Haemagglutinin of Bordetella Pertussis by Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay

Abstract

SUMMARY. Antibody responses in human sera against Bordetella pertussis during natural infection were investigated by a microplate enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with a purified fimbrial haemagglutinin preparation as antigen. Significant rises of specific IgG, IgM and IgA were demonstrated in paired sera. A secondary type of antibody response was found in most children and adults. In children, the type of response correlated with previous vaccination status; there was a primary response in unvaccinated children. A survey of antibodies in the general population showed low IgG titres in a small proportion of sera from the youngest healthy children. The titres and the number of individuals with measurable antibodies increased with age. In a limited study of the effect of vaccination, significant rises of titres were demonstrated after vaccination. The ELISA test was specific for antibodies against B. pertussis except that the test also seemed to measure antibody to B. parapertussis. A comparison between ELISA and the complement-fixation test showed a good correlation between the tests only in sera from children 1-12 years old.

Serum IgA antibody to Bordetella pertussis as an indicator of infection

“…In agreement with others (Aleksandrowicz and Pstragowska, 1980;Ruuskanen, Mertsola and Viljanen, 198 1;Granstrom et al, 1982;Viljanen et al, 1982) we found that serum IgA, IgM and IgG antibodies were induced by infection. However, in sera taken from infants after a full course of immunization, only IgM and IgG antibodies were detectable.…”

Laboratory Diagnosis of Pertussis

“…For different ELISAs, various B. pertussis antigens have been used to detect antibodies. In direct comparisons, ELISAs were shown to have a better diagnostic performance than that of the CF and BA assays (179)(180)(181)(182)(183). Concomitantly, the Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell assay was developed, in which antibodies to Ptx were quantified based on their ability to neutralize the toxic effect of Ptx on CHO cells, which results in cell clustering (184,185).…”

Identification of Bordetella Pertussis in Nasopharyngeal Swabs Using the Polymerase Chain Reaction: Evaluation of Detection Methods

“…The immunoglobulins are detectable at different times after infection. The ELISA seems to have a higher sensitivity than other usual methods of detection (9).…”