Comparative study of four different assays for the detection of binding antibodies against interferon-beta.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Binding antibodies (BAB) against interferon-beta (IFNbeta) are often determined as screening assays before performing an expensive and elaborate neutralizing antibody (NAB) test.

METHODS:

In this study, we compared four BAB tests, a western blot (WB), a direct binding enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (dELISA), a capture ELISA (cELISA), and a commercial enzyme immuno-assay (EIA) in 325 multiple sclerosis patients with and without neutralizing antibodies to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity to detect NAB by receiver operating characteristics analysis.

RESULTS:

The area under the curve (AUC) values were 0.907 for the dELISA, 0.925 for the cELISA, and 0.776 for the EIA (P < 0.0001 for all). At a sensitivity of 95%, the specificity was approximately 30% in the dELISA, 55% in the cELISA, and 13% in the EIA. The WB as a qualitative BAB detection method had a given sensitivity of 97% and a specificity of 55%. There was a strong and significant correlation between high NAB titers (>500 neutralizing units [NU]) and titers obtained by all quantitative BAB assays. However, low to medium NAB titers (20-500 NU) did not significantly correlate with BAB titers.

CONCLUSION:

We conclude that the cELISA seems to be most suitable for NAB screening, but BAB titers cannot reliably predict NAB titers.

• Authors: C Gneiss, M Brugger, A Millonig, A Fogdell-Hahn, D Rudzki, J Hillert, T Berger, M Reindl, F Deisenhammer
• Journal: Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England) (Mult Scler) Vol. 14 Issue 6 Pg. 830-6 (Jul 2008) ISSN: 1352-4585 [Print] England
• PMID: 18535018 (Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article, Validation Study)

Chemical References

• Antibodies
• Reagent Kits, Diagnostic
• Interferon-beta

Topics

• Antibodies (isolation & purification)
• Blotting, Western (standards)
• Cell Line, Tumor
• Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (methods, standards)
• Humans
• Immunoassay (standards)
• In Vitro Techniques
• Interferon-beta (immunology)
• Lung Neoplasms
• Mass Screening
• Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting (drug therapy, immunology)
• Neutralization Tests
• ROC Curve
• Reagent Kits, Diagnostic (standards)
• Reproducibility of Results
• Sensitivity and Specificity