Skip to main content
Applied Microbiology logoLink to Applied Microbiology
. 1972 Jun;23(6):1047–1052. doi: 10.1128/am.23.6.1047-1052.1972

Quantitative Measurement of Precipitating Antibodies in Streptococcal Grouping Antisera by the Single Radial Immunodiffusion Technique

William K Harrell 1, J Richard George 1
PMCID: PMC380505  PMID: 4625339

Abstract

A comparative study was made of the single radial immunodiffusion test and the classical quantitative precipitin test for determining the amount of precipitable antibodies present in streptococcal groups A and C antisera. The potency of 21 group A and 54 group C antisera was determined by both methods; purified group-specific carbohydrates were used as antigens. The coefficient of correlation between the results from the two methods was 0.976 for group A antisera and 0.946 for group C antisera. When the concentration of antigen, the volume of antiserum used, and the depth of the antigen-agar mixture are kept constant, the diameter of the precipitin disc is directly related to the concentration of precipitable antibodies present in the antiserum. The use of the radial immunodiffusion test for evaluating and standardizing streptococcal grouping antisera is discussed as well as the advantages and disadvantages of using a concentrated vaccine for producing these antisera.

Full text

PDF
1049

Selected References

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

  1. Braun D. G., Krause R. M. The individual antigenic specificity of antibodies to streptococcal carbohydrates. J Exp Med. 1968 Nov 1;128(5):969–989. doi: 10.1084/jem.128.5.969. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Greenblatt J. J., Eichmann K., Braun D., Krause R. M. Factors that enhance the potency of streptococcal group-specific antisera. J Infect Dis. 1971 Oct;124(4):387–393. doi: 10.1093/infdis/124.4.387. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. KRAUSE R. M., McCARTY M. Studies on the chemical structure of the streptococcal cell wall. II. The composition of group C cell walls and chemical basis for serologic specificity of the carbohydrate moiety. J Exp Med. 1962 Jan 1;115:49–62. doi: 10.1084/jem.115.1.49. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Mancini G., Carbonara A. O., Heremans J. F. Immunochemical quantitation of antigens by single radial immunodiffusion. Immunochemistry. 1965 Sep;2(3):235–254. doi: 10.1016/0019-2791(65)90004-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. McCARTY M., LANCEFIELD R. C. Variation in the group-specific carbohydrate of group A streptococci. I. Immunochemical studies on the carbohydrates of variant strains. J Exp Med. 1955 Jul 1;102(1):11–28. doi: 10.1084/jem.102.1.11. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Stiehm E. R. Radial diffusion technique for the quantitative estimation of precipitating antibody. J Lab Clin Med. 1967 Sep;70(3):528–534. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Vaerman J. P., Lebacq-Verheyden A. M., Scolari L., Heremans J. F. Further studies on single radial immunodiffusion. I. Direct proportionality between area of precipitate and reciprocal of antibody concentration. Immunochemistry. 1969 Mar;6(2):279–285. doi: 10.1016/0019-2791(69)90164-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Vaerman J. P., Lebacq-Verheyden A. M., Scolari L., Heremans J. F. Further studies on single radial immunodiffusion. II. The reversed system: diffusion of antibodies in antigen-containing gels. Immunochemistry. 1969 Mar;6(2):287–293. doi: 10.1016/0019-2791(69)90165-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES