THE ENTEROBACTERIAL HEMAGGLUTINATION TEST AND ITS DIAGNOSTIC POTENTIALITIES

Abstract

Crude Salmonella antigens obtained from heated cultures are readily adsorbed on human red blood cells; the latter are specifically agglutinated by homologous bacterial antibodies, This Salmonella hemagglutination test is shown to be a sensitive tool for the detection of antibodies developed during salmonellosis and is distinctly superior to the conventional bacterial agglutination test. Patients with Salmonella infection may develop homologous hemagglutinins in high titer and a variety of heterologous enteric antibodies in low titer. These antibodies can be differentiated by absorption with modified red blood cells. Three different purified Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharides as well as the corresponding crude antigens can be simultaneously adsorbed on red blood cells. A suspension of red blood cells modified with several Salmonella and Shigella antigens is shown to be suitable as a polyvalent antigen for the detection of enterobacterial antibodies. The possible clinical usefulness of the monovalent and polyvalent enterobacterial hemagglutination tests is discussed.