Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, March 2001, p. 363-369, Vol. 8, No. 2
1071-412X/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.8.2.363-369.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland,1 Eijkman-Winkler Institute for Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Inflammation, Utrecht University Hospital, Utrecht, The Netherlands,2 and National University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland3
Received 16 June 2000/Returned for modification 12 September 2000/Accepted 2 December 2000
Host protection against Streptococcus pneumoniae is mainly mediated by opsonin-dependent phagocytosis. Several techniques for measuring opsonophagocytic activity (OPA) of antibodies to S. pneumoniae have been standardized and used. These include the viable cell-assay, flow-cytometric assays, and an assay utilizing radiolabeled bacteria. Using these different methods, we measured the OPA of antibodies to S. pneumoniae types 6B and 19F from the sera of infants immunized with a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, PncCRM. Generally, the results obtained by the various techniques correlated well, although serotype-specific differences were found (6B, r = 0.78 to 0.95, P < 0.001; 19F, r = 0.50 to 0.84, P < 0.001). The same serotype-specific differences were observed for the relationship between the concentrations of specific immunoglobulin G antibodies measured by enzyme immunoassay and the OPA. Since the sensitivities of the OPA assays differed, the most prominent discrepancies between the techniques were found at low antibody concentrations.
Present address: Department of Immunology, Utrecht University
Hospital, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
This article has been cited by other articles:
| Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. | Clin. Microbiol. Rev. | Infect. Immun. |
|---|---|---|
| J. Clin. Microbiol. | J. Virol. | ALL ASM JOURNALS |