Counterimmunoelectrophoresis in biology and medicine.

The review will initially focus on the historical development of counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE). A part of the manuscript will be devoted to methodological considerations of CIE as well as a discussion of the antisera used. The body of the review will detail each test procedure for which CIE is applicable and discuss unique elements of technique and limits of detection, as well as clinical interpretation of results. The final section will summarize potential applications of CIE in microbiology.