Immunity to human cytomegalovirus measured and compared by complement fixation, indirect fluorescent-antibody, indirect hemagglutination, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays

Abstract

The complement fixation test is currently the test employed most frequently to determine the presence of antibody to human cytomegalovirus. Several other techniques have been adapted for this purpose. A comparison of cytomegalovirus antibody titers was made between the complement fixation test, a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, an indirect immunofluorescent technique, and a modified indirect hemagglutination test. Forty-three serum samples were tested for antibodies by each of the above procedures. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent, immunofluorescent, and indirect hemagglutination assays were in close agreement on all samples tested; the titers obtained with these methods were all equal to or greater than the complement fixation titer for 38 of the 41 samples (92.6%). Two samples were anticomplementary in the complement fixation test but gave readable results in the other tests. The complement fixation test was the least sensitive of the procedures examined. The commercial enzymelinked immunosorbent assay system was the most practical method and offered the highest degree of sensitivity in detecting antibodies to cytomegalovirus.

Comparison of a latex agglutination test with five other methods for determining the presence of antibody against cytomegalovirus

“…The cytomegalovirus (CMV) antibody status of a transfusion or transplant candidate and that of the donor blood component or tissue may play a critical role in the management of at-risk patients such as low-birth-weight neonates and bone marrow or kidney transplant recipients (1-3, 12, 13, 18, 19). Previous reports have compared a variety of methods for this determination (5,6,10,11,15,16). A comparison of a new latex agglutination (LA) test with five other methods for determining anti-CMV levels in the sera of 210 random blood donors is reported.…”