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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, January 2001, p. 196-198, Vol. 8, No. 1
1071-412X/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.8.1.196-198.2001

Evaluation of the Abbott AxSYM Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Immunoglobulin M (IgM) Assay in Conjunction with Other CMV IgM Tests and a CMV IgG Avidity Assay

T. Lazzarotto,¹ C. Galli,² R. Pulvirenti,² R. Rescaldani,³ R. Vezzo,³ A. La Gioia,⁴ C. Martinelli,⁴ S. La Rocca,⁵ G. Agresti,⁵ L. Grillner,⁶ M. Nordin,⁶ M. van Ranst,⁷ B. Combs,⁸ G. T. Maine,^8,* and M. P. Landini¹

Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Microbiology, University of Bologna, Bologna,¹ Scientific Affairs, Abbott Diagnostici, Rome,² Department of Microbiology, Hospital San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza,³ Central Laboratory, Hospital of Livorno, Livorno,⁴ and Central Laboratory, Hospital of Grosseto, Grosseto,⁵ Italy; Department of Clinical Microbiology, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden⁶; Department of Virology, K. U. L. University Leuven, Leuven, Belgium⁷; and Department of Congenital Infectious Disease Diagnostics, Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Illinois⁸

Received 28 July 2000/Returned for modification 5 October 2000/Accepted 2 November 2000

The measurement of the avidity of cytomegalovirus (CMV) immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies has been shown by several investigators to be useful in identifying and excluding primary CMV infections in pregnant women. In this work, we examined the diagnostic utility of reflex testing of CMV IgM-positive specimens from pregnant women by using a CMV IgG avidity assay. The utility of this approach was directly dependent on the sensitivity of the CMV IgM assay employed during the initial screen. The higher initial reactivity rate of the AxSYM CMV IgM assay was necessary in order to detect CMV IgM in specimens containing low-avidity CMV IgG antibodies, indicative of a primary CMV infection, which other CMV IgM assays (Behring, Vidas, Captia, and Eurogenetics) fail to detect in some cases. The use of the AxSYM CMV IgM assay, followed by an avidity test, should result in more accurate diagnosis of CMV infection in pregnant women.

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^* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Abbott Laboratories, 200 Abbott Park Rd., Bldg. AP31, D-9JW, Abbott Park, IL 60064-6199. Phone: (847) 937-5998. Fax: (847) 938-9219. E-mail: gregory.maine{at}abbott.com.

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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, January 2001, p. 196-198, Vol. 8, No. 1
1071-412X/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.8.1.196-198.2001

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