[The approval of an immunoenzyme test system based on the F(ab)2 fragments of staphylococcal antibodies for determining staphylococcal alpha-hemolysin].

In the approbation of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) system on the basis of F(ab)2 fragments of antistaphylococcal antibodies on 307 cultures of the representatives of the genera Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas and Proteus high sensitivity, specificity and effectiveness of ELISA for the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the alpha-hemolytic activity of S.aureus were established. The ELISA system has made it possible to additionally detect alpha-hemolysin in 62% of S.aureus strains classified with as nontoxigenic strains using hemolysis test in Petri dishes. The sensitivity limit of this method is 0.0005 binding units or 1.0 ng in terms of protein content. The use of the ELISA system may be recommended for the study of the toxigenic properties of staphylococci.