Evaluation of different measles IgG assays based on recombinant proteins using a panel of low-titre sera

• Published in: Journal of virological methods 2000-02, Vol.84 (2), p.191-200
• Main Authors: Hartter, H.K, de Swart, R.L, Hanses, F, Vos, H.W, Bouche, F.B, Osterhaus, A.D.M.E, Schneider, F, Muller, C.P
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antibodies, Viral - blood; Biological and medical sciences; ELISA; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Evaluation Studies as Topic; Flow Cytometry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Haemagglutination assay; Hemagglutination Tests; Hemagglutinins - genetics; Hemagglutinins - immunology; Human viral diseases; Humans; IgG antibodies; Immunoglobulin G - blood; Infectious diseases; Measles; Measles - immunology; Measles virus; Measles virus - genetics; Measles virus - immunology; Medical sciences; Microbiology; Neutralisation assay; Neutralization Tests; Recombinant Proteins - genetics; Recombinant Proteins - immunology; Reference Standards; ROC Curve; Sensitivity and Specificity; Techniques used in virology; Viral diseases; Viral diseases with cutaneous or mucosal lesions and viral diseases of the eye; Virology
• ISSN: 0166-0934; 1879-0984
• DOI: 10.1016/S0166-0934(99)00143-3

During the WHO campaign to eradicate measles, accurate discrimination between immune and non-immune individuals will become increasingly important. Due to waning immunity in vaccinated populations, the performance of a measles IgG assay depends mainly on its ability to detect reliably seronegative individuals among many vaccinees with low antibody levels. New serological tests based on recombinant proteins detect only a fraction of the total measles virus (MV) specific antibodies. Therefore, several assays based on recombinant MV-haemagglutinin (ELISA and flow cytometry) or MV-fusion protein (flow cytometry) as well as neutralisation and haemagglutination test have been evaluated using a large panel of low-titre and negative sera. Since such an evaluation is highly dependent on threshold values for positivity, the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was applied. The H-FACS and the H-ELISA showed the best performing characteristics (specificity: 97.4 and 96.1%, respectively; sensitivity: 88.1 and 89.6%, respectively) and may be an alternative to the neutralisation assay. The number of undefined/grey zone sera was significantly lower compared to a commercial whole virus-based ELISA and therefore fewer individuals would be vaccinated unnecessarily.