Reduction of the diagnostic window with a new combined p24 antigen and human immunodeficiency virus antibody screening assay.

In order to reduce the window phase between time of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and laboratory diagnosis, new fourth generation screening assays which permit a simultaneous detection of HIV antigen and antibody have been developed. In a multicenter study, a new automated fourth generation assay, Enzymun-Test HIV Combi (Boehringer Mannheim GmbH) was compared to third generation assay, p24 antigen tests and Western blot. A total of 37 seroconversion panels, samples of the early infection (n = 42), HIV-1 antibody positive sera, including subtypes A E, and O (n = 1118), HIV-2 positive samples (n = 252) and cell culture supernatants infected with different HIV-1 subtypes and HIV-2 (n = 50), blood donors (n = 6649), hospitalized patients (n = 475), HIV neg.

Identification of naturally processed T cell epitopes from glutamic acid decarboxylase presented in the context of HLA-DR alleles by T lymphocytes of recent onset IDDM patients.

Glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) has been defined as a major target antigen in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). To identify the molecular ligands triggering a T cell response to GAD, a panel of human GAD65-specific T lymphocyte lines was generated from peripheral blood of three recent onset IDDM patients. All lines derived from a patient expressing the high-risk-conferring HLA-DR*0301/ *0401 haplotypes recognized a single epitope localized between amino acid positions 270 and 283 of GAD65, a stretch that is located in close proximity to the homology region shared with Coxsackie virus P2-C protein.

Isolation and characterisation of antibodies which specifically recognise the peptide encoded by exon 7 (v2) of the human CD44 gene.

Aims-Exon 7 of the human CD44 gene is overexpressed in many commonly occurring carcinomas. The aim of the study was to explore the diagnostic and therapeutic potential of this frequent abnormality.Methods-A new monoclonal antibody (mAb, M-23.

Lung cancer-associated keratin 19 fragments: development and biochemical characterisation of the new serum assay Enzymun-Test CYFRA 21-1.

From a panel of 4 murine monoclonal antibodies directed against keratin 19 various antibody combinations were evaluated in solid-phase enzyme-linked sandwich immunoassays for detection of soluble keratin 19 fragments in patient sera. One of these antibody combinations, comprised of the monoclonal antibodies Ks 19.1 and BM 19.

The tumor markers TPA, TPS, TPACYK and CYFRA 21-1 react differently with the keratins 8, 18 and 19.

The commercially available tumor marker tests TPA, TPS, TPACYK and CYFRA 21-1 react with simple epithelium keratins. From clinical studies it can be deduced that the pattern of keratin recognition must be different for each of these tests. We therefore studied the reactivity of the keratin fragment combinations K8/K18 and K8/K19 in the different tests and determined the reactivity of the corresponding soluble antibodies with purified keratin 8, 18 and 19 in immunoblots.