Evaluation of a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of serum immunoglobulin G response to human herpesvirus 6.

A rapid (60-min) commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of immunoglobulin G (IgG) class antibodies to human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) was evaluated. The specificity of the ELISA for HHV-6 was confirmed by absorption studies, with the reactivities of HHV-6-positive sera being unaffected by other herpesviruses (cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus, and varicella-zoster virus) or the HSB2 cell line used to culture HHV-6. HHV-6 IgG antibody levels in a panel of 502 serum samples were determined by ELISA and an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA). Results obtained by the two methods were in close agreement, suggesting that the ELISA provides a suitable test method for the determination of HHV-6 IgG antibodies in a routine clinical laboratory. Both tests were positive in 398 cases (79%), and both were negative in 71 cases (14%), with a different result obtained by IFA and ELISA in only 33 cases (7%). Furthermore, absorption of sera with HHV-6 prior to assay revealed that the majority of these results were false positive (n = 8) or false negative (n = 23) in the IFA (true positives or negatives in the ELISA). Subsequently, the ELISA showed a sensitivity of 99.76% and a specificity of 98.75%. HHV-6-specific IgG levels were also determined in paired serum samples collected from 49 donors--14 with exanthem subitum (ES), 15 with ES which was complicated with central nervous system involvement, and 20 undergoing bone marrow transplantation--in whom HHV-6 infection had been demonstrated by virus isolation and/or PCR. All patients with ES or central nervous system complications showed an increase in HHV-6-specific IgG, indicating that this ELISA may be a useful aid in the diagnosis of these conditions. Furthermore, 14 of 20 patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation showed an increase in HHV-6-specific IgG levels, possibly reflecting a reactivation of HHV-6 in these patients.