Biochemistry Research Laboratory, Central India Institute of Medical Sciences, 88/2 Bajaj Nagar, Nagpur, Maharashta, India.
Viral Immunol. 2011 Aug;24(4):341-6. doi: 10.1089/vim.2010.0129. Epub 2011 Jul 1.
Herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) represents one of the most severe infectious diseases of the central nervous system. As effective antiviral drugs are available, early rapid and reliable diagnosis has become important. The objective of the present study was to develop a sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) protocol for herpes simplex virus (HSV) antigen detection by assessing the usefulness of hyperimmune sera isolated from HSV-seropositive patients. A total of 52 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and 62 serum samples of HSE patients and non-HSE persons were analyzed. An in-house ELISA protocol utilizing hyperimmune sera was developed for HSV antigen detection. To improve the specificity of the method, protein A was incorporated into the protocol for ELISA. The sensitivity (70% and 90%) of antigen detection was high in CSF and serum samples, respectively, of confirmed HSE patients. However, lower specificity (52.3% and 42.3%), respectively, was obtained, which was improved by using protein A in the ELISA protocol. The modification in the method yielded good sensitivity (80% and 70%) and specificity (85.7% and 88.4%) of HSV antigen detection in the CSF and sera, respectively, of the HSE and non-HSE groups. The ELISA method utilizing hyperimmune sera along with protein A for HSV antigen detection yielded good sensitivity and specificity in both CSF and sera, and hence can be useful for the diagnosis of HSE.
单纯疱疹病毒性脑炎 (HSE) 是中枢神经系统最严重的感染性疾病之一。由于有效的抗病毒药物已经问世，因此早期快速可靠的诊断变得尤为重要。本研究旨在通过评估从 HSV 血清阳性患者中分离出的免疫血清的有用性，开发一种用于单纯疱疹病毒 (HSV) 抗原检测的敏感酶联免疫吸附测定 (ELISA) 方案。分析了 52 例 HSE 患者和 62 例非 HSE 患者的脑脊液 (CSF) 和血清样本。利用免疫血清建立了用于 HSV 抗原检测的内部 ELISA 方案。为了提高方法的特异性，在 ELISA 方案中加入了蛋白 A。在确诊的 HSE 患者的 CSF 和血清样本中，抗原检测的敏感性（分别为 70%和 90%）较高。然而，特异性分别为 52.3%和 42.3%，通过在 ELISA 方案中使用蛋白 A 可以提高特异性。方法的改进使得 HSV 抗原在 HSE 和非 HSE 组的 CSF 和血清中的检测具有良好的敏感性（分别为 80%和 70%）和特异性（分别为 85.7%和 88.4%）。该 ELISA 方法利用免疫血清和蛋白 A 检测 HSV 抗原，在 CSF 和血清中均具有良好的敏感性和特异性，因此可用于 HSE 的诊断。
