Enzyme immunoassay for serum antibody to Mycoplasma hominis in women with acute pelvic inflammatory disease.

A sensitive, four-layer modification of an enzyme immunoassay was developed for the determination of serum antibodies to Mycoplasma hominis. The suitability of the test for diagnostic use was studied with women who had acute pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). Twenty (23%) of 86 women with PID from whom paired sera were obtained demonstrated a significant change in levels of IgG antibody, a finding suggestive of recent infection with M. hominis. The occurrence of such change was not related to the isolation of Chlamydia trachomatis or Neisseria gonorrhoeae from the lower genital tract. Women with PID had significantly higher levels of IgG and IgA antibody to M. hominis, whereas the amount of IgM antibodies present did not differ between the groups. Levels of IgG antibody increased and those of IgM antibody decreased with increasing age. This change was found both among women with PID and among controls.