Mumps class-specific immunoglobulins in radioimmunoassay and conventional serology

Antibodies against mumps virus have been studied by using immunoglobulin class-specific indicators labeled with (125)I in the radioimmunoassay (RIA) procedure. The immunoglobulins in paired acute and convalescent sera were allowed to react with mumps virus in a solid-phase RIA system. Class-specific immunoglobulin indicators (anti-immunoglobulin M [IgM] and anti-immunoglobulin G [IgG]) labeled with (125)I revealed that immunoglobulins of early antisera were preponderantly IgM, whereas immunoglobulins of late antisera were predominantly IgG. These indicators detected antibodies of the early (IgM) and late (IgG) phases of the immune response. These findings are consistent with the classical temporal order of appearance of 19s (IgM) and 7s (IgG) globulins. Specificity of these indicators for reacting with fractionated 7s and 19s globulins is also presented. Mumps virus RIA obtained with anti-IgG correlated well with conventional serological data obtained by neutralization and hemagglutination inhibition, but most strongly with complement-fixation data. In addition, antibody bound by solid phase was capable of distinguishing between related antigens of the myxovirus group.