Measurement of antibodies to herpesvirus types 1 and 2 in human sera by microradioimmunoassay.

The binding of 125I-labelled anti-human antibodies against the fc IgG fragment to unlabelled antiviral immunoglobulins in the surface of infected cells was used to quantitate antibodies against herpes simplex virus type (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) in sera from patients with cervix carcinoma. The microradioimmunoassay technique (micro-RIA) proved to be 5-10 times more sensitive than the microneutralization test. Antibody titres determined by micro-RIA correlated with neutralizing antibody titres to both HSV-1 and HSV-2. The relative antibody titres to HSV-1 and HSV-2, as determined by micro-RIA, could be used to distinguish persons previously infected with HSV-2 by means of II/I indices.