Detection of type-specific antibody to herpes simplex virus type 1 by radioimmunoassay with herpes simplex virus type 1 glycoprotein C purified with monoclonal antibody.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and HSV-2 specify at least four glycoproteins designated gA/gB, gC, gD, and gE. Previous studies have shown that gC produced by HSV-1 is antigenically distinct from the corresponding HSV-2 glycoprotein. With the exception of gC, the glycoproteins of both serotypes share antigenic sites. Standard serological assays fail to differentiate the antibody to the shared antigenic determinants from the type-specific antibody. In this paper, we describe a procedure for purifying gC from HSV-1-infected cell extracts with an immunoadsorbent prepared with an HCL monoclonal antibody. When used in a solid-phase radioimmunoassay, gC proved to be a type-specific antigen for quantitation of antibody to HSV-1. Among individuals who had no antibody to HSV at the onset of infection, all of those with primary HSV-1 infection developed antibody to gC. Subjects with primary HSV-2 infection failed to develop antibody reactive with gC of HSV-1 (P less than 0.01). Both immunoglobulin G and M antibodies against gC were detected in sera from subjects with either primary or recurrent HSV-1 infection. Higher antibody titers to gC were found in sera from individuals with recurrent infection than in sera from those with primary HSV-1 infection.