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An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for IgG antibodies to human herpes virus 6

H Dahl1, A Linde, V A Sundqvist

  • 1Department of Virology, National Bacteriological Laboratory, Stockholm, Sweden.

Journal of Virological Methods
|September 1, 1990
PubMed

Insights

A new indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) reliably detects human herpes virus 6 (HHV6) IgG antibodies. This method offers high accuracy and is suitable for large-scale studies, serving as a viable alternative to immunofluorescence assays.

Area of Science:

  • Virology
  • Immunology
  • Diagnostic Assays

Background:

  • Human herpes virus 6 (HHV6) infections can present with symptoms overlapping Epstein-Barr virus (EBV).
  • Accurate detection of HHV6 IgG antibodies is crucial for diagnosis and epidemiological studies.
  • Indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) is a standard method, but alternatives are sought for large-scale applications.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the performance of an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with IFA for measuring HHV6 IgG antibodies.
  • To evaluate the diagnostic utility of the developed ELISA in a patient cohort with suspected EBV infections.

Main Methods:

  • An indirect ELISA utilizing HHV6 membrane antigen was developed.
  • Five hundred serum samples from 403 Swedish patients were tested using both the developed ELISA and IFA.
  • Specificity and sensitivity of the ELISA were calculated against IFA as the reference.

Main Results:

  • The HHV6 IgG ELISA demonstrated high specificity (98.7%) and sensitivity (98.4%) compared to IFA.
  • IgG antibodies to HHV6 were detected in 90% of patients by both assays.
  • Elevated HHV6 IgG titers were observed primarily in patients with EBV or cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections.

Conclusions:

  • The indirect ELISA is a reliable and accurate method for quantifying HHV6 IgG antibodies.
  • This ELISA is a suitable alternative to IFA for large-scale epidemiological studies of HHV6.
  • Further investigation is needed for an effective HHV6 IgM ELISA due to cross-reactivity issues.

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