Enzyme immunoassay to determine exposure to Chlamydia pneumoniae (strain TWAR)

Recent studies suggest that a group of Chlamydia strains known as TWAR, which are now proposed to be a new species called Chlamydia pneumoniae, may be a frequent cause of respiratory disease in the United States and many other countries. Current serotesting methods do not allow rapid screening of large numbers of samples to distinguish C. trachomatis exposure from C. pneumoniae exposure. We developed an enzyme immunoassay to decrease cross-reactivity between immunoglobulin G antibodies reactive with C. trachomatis and C. pneumoniae. Elementary bodies of C. trachomatis or C. pneumoniae were treated with a detergent-chelating solution to decrease the reactivity of the common lipopolysaccharide antigens. Sera from four groups of patients, totaling 143 persons, were tested by this assay. The prevalences of titers of greater than or equal to 128 to C. trachomatis and C. pneumoniae, respectively, were as follows: (i) for 23 women seropositive for C. trachomatis by the microimmunofluorescence test, 21 (91%) and 18 (78%); (ii) for 50 adult blood donors, 13 (26%) and 39 (78%); (iii) for 40 sexually transmitted disease clinic patients, 20 (50%) and 32 (80%); (iv) for 30 healthy children 5 to 7 years old, 0 (0%) and 8 (27%). Western blots (immunoblots) of each antigen corroborated the differential reactivity of C. trachomatis-positive, C. pneumoniae-negative and C. trachomatis-negative, C. pneumoniae-positive serum samples. Western blots of serum samples from rabbits immunized with either C. trachomatis or C. pneumoniae elementary bodies revealed at least two protein bands (30 and 80 kilodaltons) which appeared to represent unique C. pneumoniae antigens.