Mereaptoethanol-Sensitive Neutralizing-Antibody in Natural Infection With Coxsackievirus B5.

Abstract

Summary Serum samples from patients of aseptic meningitis associated with Coxsackie-virus B5 were examined to detect both 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) sensitive and resistant neutralizing antibodies. In 75% of the sera obtained at an early stage after the onset of illness, the titer of 2-ME sensitive antibody was significantly higher than that of the 2-ME resistant antibody. During the late stage of infection the level of 2-ME resistant antibody exceeded the 2-ME sensitive titer; this was especially true of sera obtained 2 years after onset of illness. Fractionation of sera by a procedure of sucrose gradient centrifugation revealed that the rapidly sedi-menting peak of antibody corresponded to the 2-ME resistant antibody. The nature of the 2-ME sensitive antibody and the significance of its detection in diagnosis of the viral infection were discussed. The authors wish to thank Drs. N. Ishida and D. S. Yohn for helpful discussion and advice in preparation of the manuscript.