Antibody response in patients infected with Campylobacter jejuni/coli assayed with a complement fixation test and a DIGELISA method.

Abstract

Two methods for the detection of antibodies against Campylobacter jejuni/coli, a complement fixation test (CFT) and a DIG-ELISA method, were tested against a panel of single sera from 36 coproculture positive patients. Twenty-five were positive in CFT compared to 31 in the other system. Twenty-three out of 25 CFT positive sera were positive in the ELISA method. Seven sera were positive only for IgA antibodies thus negative in the CFT. CFT may be useful for the detection of IgG/IgM antibodies against C. jejuni/coli. However, serum IgA may be a valuable marker for infections with C. jejuni/coli. Methods such as DIG-ELISA may identify such cases.