A staphylococcal radioimmunoassay for detection of antibodies toMycoplasma pneumoniae

Abstract

A radioimmunoassay (RIA) which depends on the property of protein A ofStaphylococcus aureus to combine with the Fc-fragment of immunoglobulins was developed. This technique was employed to measure antibodies in human and various animal sera. It could be demonstrated that the staphylococcal RIA was at least as sensitive as the previously described radioimmunoprecipitation technique in detecting antibodies toM.pneumoniae in human sera. In addition, antibodies toM.pneumoniae could be demonstrated in sera of hamsters intranasally inoculated with the organisms. Antibodies could also be demonstrated in rabbit sera after immunization withM.pneumoniae. The test proved to be considerably more sensitive than conventional tests for detection of antibodies to the organisms. The test requires only small amounts of reagents and is relatively inexpensive.