TABLE 3.

Results of inhibition assay

Sample no.	A450 (nm)		% Inhibitionc
	Control seruma	Positive serumb
1	0.97	0.239	76
2	0.196	0.087	66
3	0.253	0.092	64
4	1.728	0.229	87
5	1.907	0.132	94
6	0.434	0.119	73
7	2.209	0.356	84
8	0.422	0.08	81

^aN protein positive reaction serum (100 μl) was mixed with 20 μl of normal serum in each test.

^bN protein positive reaction serum (100 μl) was mixed with 20 μl of convalescent-phase serum from patients with SARS in each test.

^cTest samples were considered to be confirmed as positive for N protein if the percentage of inhibition was greater than 50.