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. 1982 Jun;15(6):1036–1043. doi: 10.1128/jcm.15.6.1036-1043.1982

Detection of specific antibody by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and antigenemia by counterimmunoelectrophoresis in humans infected with Pneumocystis carinii.

S E Maddison, G V Hayes, S B Slemenda, L G Norman, M H Ivey
PMCID: PMC272249  PMID: 6980895

Abstract

A urea-soluble extract of cyst-rich material from rat lung heavily infected with Pneumocystis carinii was evaluated in an enzyme-linked immunosorption assay for antibody in 461 human sera. The highest level of reactivity occurred in sera submitted for serodiagnosis from proved or highly suspect cases. However, the range of reactivities in these groups, many of whom were on immunosuppressive therapy, was very wide. A more restricted lower range of reactivity was observed in both hospital-family contacts and healthy Serum Bank donors. Because of the overlap in levels of reactivity between the pneumocystosis and control groups, no concise cutoff value to separate infected from noninfected individuals could be made. Specificity of the reactions was shown by absorption of patients' and control sera with uninfected and P. carinii-infected human and rat lung tissue. The data support the concept that P. carinii is highly prevalent as a latent agent in the general population and is provoked to cause clinically manifest disease in the compromised host. Detection of circulating antigen appeared to be specific and possibly a useful adjunct to diagnosis, as 10 of the 14 proved or highly suspect patients with antigenemia did not have measurable antibody to P. carinii.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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