Calibration and Evaluation of Quantitative Antibody Titers for Varicella-Zoster Virus by Use of the BioPlex 2200.

Most commercially available enzyme immunoassay-based methods have limited sensitivity to detect antibody responses to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) in vaccinated individuals, who produce lower antibody levels than those with natural infection. However, more sensitive methods are either not commercially available or less amenable to high-throughput testing. The BioPlex 2200 measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) IgG assay (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA) is an automated high-throughput platform based on the microsphere Luminex technology that measures antibodies against measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella viruses simultaneously.

Calibration and Evaluation of Quantitative Antibody Titers for Measles Virus by Using the BioPlex 2200.

The BioPlex 2200 (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA) is a rapid, automated platform, which can screen large numbers of specimens for antibodies to measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella. Although approved for producing qualitative results, in this study we validated the test (off-label) to allow reporting of quantitative results. To do this, we used the third anti-measles World Health Organization standard to generate a calibration curve that allowed relative fluorescence intensity to be translated into quantitative antibody titer (antibody units [AU]/ml).

Performance of the BioPlex 2200 Autoimmune Vasculitis kit.

The BioRad BioPlex 2200 Vasculitis kit demonstrates excellent relative sensitivity and relative specificity for the semi-quantitative detection of IgG autoantibodies to MPO, PR3 and GBM. The fully-automated platform simultaneously measures three analytes in a single tube, offering superior advantage in speed and ease of use over current assays. The availability of a fully-automated platform with 24-hour availability for these three antibodies may be of considerable value in the differential diagnosis of patients with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis.