[Detection of hepatitis Be antigen with an enzyme immunoassay (author's transl)]

An enzyme immunoassay (ELISA) from SEROMED was tested for its suitability in detecting HBeAg and was compared with a radioimmunoassay (RIA) from ABBOTT and with rheophoresis. From a total of 931 sera tested, HBeAg could be detected in 313 sera with ELISA, 347 sera with RIA and 22 sera with rheophoresis. When 8 HBeAg containing sera were titrated for end points, RIA gave titers which were 2.3-fold higherr than ELISA and 575-fold higher than rheophoresis. The differences between RIA and ELISA were shown to be due to somwhat lower sensitivity of ELISA. However, when sera from patients with Hepatitis B from various times after the onset of hepatitis (maximally 12 months) were tested, there was only a slight difference in sensitivity between ELISA and RIA. ELISA along with RIA is considered to be a substantially sensitive test for detection of HBeAG as compared to rheophoresis and can be recommended for routine use.