Acute Viral Hepatitis in Adults
Comparison of the Radioimmunoassay and Counterimmunoelectrophoresis Methods of Detecting HBsAg
- Richard P. Wenzel, MD;
- C. David Teates, MD;
- Querido Galapon, RT;
- Robert Barczak, RT;
- Chung-mei Ling, PhD;
- Lacy R. Overby, PhD
- From the departments of medicine (Dr. Wenzel) and radiology (Dr. Teates and Mr. Barczak), University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, the Naval Medical Field Research Laboratory, Camp Lejeune, NC (Mr. Galapon), and the Virology Department, Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, III (Drs. Ling and Overby).
Abstract
We compared the radioimmunoassay (RIA) and counterimmunoelectrophoretic (CIE) methods in detecting hepatitis B antigen (HB Ag) in 407 acute and 336 convalescent sera of adults with viral hepatitis. The CIE method demonstrated that 41% of acute and 28% of 14- to 17-day serum specimens were HBsAg-positive. The RIA method demonstrated seropositivity in 60% of acute and 56% of convalescent specimens (P <.001). Eightyfour percent of coded specimens initially positive for HB Ag by RIA were found to have subtype antigenic determinants d or y; 92% of the HB Ag-negative controls were negative for subtype antigens, confirming the specificity of the RIA test. RIA subtyping data corroborated earlier work with immunodiffusion techniques.
(JAMA 232:366-368, 1975)
Footnotes
-
Reprint requests to Department of Internal Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine, PO Box 370, Charlottesville, VA 22901 (Dr. Wenzel).
