Abstract
Summary
A radioimmunoprecipitation (RIP) test for detection of antibody to M. pneumoniae was developed. The test was performed by using microtiter equipment thus combining ease of performance and the need for small amounts of reagents. Divalent cations did not enhance the RIP antibody titer of human sera to M. pneumoniae indicating that complement or complement components were not fixed. Membrane glycolipids appeared to be the major although not the only antigens involved in the RIP reaction. The RIP method was slightly more sensitive than the complement dependent mycoplasmacidal antibody assay and considerably more sensitive than the standard serologic techniques used for measurement of antibody to M. pneumoniae.
The authors thank Drs. Shmuel Razin, Jerrold J. Lander and Robert H. Purcell for instructive comments and Dr. David Alling, Statistician for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH for assistance in the statistical analysis. We are indebted to Mr. Bruce P. Phillips, Laboratory of Microbial Immunity for providing the germ-free guinea pigs and his advice concerning the work with these animals in the special facilities. The excellent technical assistance of Mr. Walter D. James and Mr. Robert L. Horswood is gratefully acknowledged.
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