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Immunoassays and serologic techniques

11 articles

Complement Hemolytic Activity Assay

Complement Hemolytic Activity Assay (CH50, total hemolytic complement): functional blood test measuring total classical and terminal complement pathway activity by lysis of antibody-sensitized sheep red blood cells; used to screen complement deficiency and monitor lupus.

Flocculation Tests

Flocculation tests are serological precipitin assays in which antigen-antibody complexes form visible clumps over a narrow antigen-antibody ratio. Key examples: VDRL and RPR syphilis tests and the Ramon Lf test for toxoid vaccines.

Hemolytic Plaque Technique

Hemolytic plaque technique (Jerne plaque assay, plaque-forming cell assay): 1963 Jerne and Nordin method counting single antibody-secreting cells by complement lysis of sheep red blood cells in agar; predecessor of ELISPOT.

Kveim Test

Kveim test, or Kveim-Siltzbach test, an intradermal skin test for sarcoidosis using heat-treated sarcoid tissue suspension; a granulomatous nodule at the injection site, read histologically after 4 to 6 weeks, indicates active sarcoidosis.

Radioallergosorbent Test

Radioallergosorbent test (RAST): the first blood assay for allergen-specific IgE, introduced by Wide, Bennich, and Johansson in 1967 and commercialized as Phadebas RAST in 1974; now replaced by fluorescence enzyme assays but still a colloquial term.

Radioimmunoprecipitation Assay

Radioimmunoprecipitation assay (RIPA, Farr assay): sensitive immunoassay using radiolabeled antigens to detect and quantify specific antibodies in serum or CSF; gold standard for AChR antibodies in myasthenia gravis, limited by radioisotope handling.

Radioligand Assay

A radioligand assay is an analytical technique that quantitatively determines receptors or binding proteins in body fluids or tissue using a radioactively labeled binding reagent, including the radioimmunoassay.

Syphilis Serodiagnosis

Syphilis serodiagnosis detects antibodies to Treponema pallidum using nontreponemal (RPR, VDRL) and treponemal tests arranged in traditional or reverse screening algorithms, differing in sensitivity, false positives, and cost.

Treponema Immobilization Test

The Treponema immobilization test (TPI) is a serologic test for syphilis introduced in 1949, which detects antibody that stops the movement of live Treponema pallidum organisms.

Two-Dimensional Immunoelectrophoresis

Two-dimensional immunoelectrophoresis, or crossed immunoelectrophoresis (CIE, X-IEP), is a gel-based immunoassay in which proteins separated by first-dimension electrophoresis enter an antibody-containing gel at right angles, forming quantifiable precipitation peaks; described by Ressler in 1960 and refined by Laurell.

Urinary Antibody-Coated Bacteria Test

Urinary antibody-coated bacteria (ACB) test, a 1974 fluorescent antibody technique detecting antibody-coated bacteria in urine sediment to localize urinary tract infection to kidney versus bladder; sensitivity about 83%, specificity about 77%, now rarely used.