Table 3. Hepatitis E virus-specific antigens in selected samples with different detection of anti-hepatitis E virus antibodies, Wantai vs Mikrogen ELISA, blood donors, Germany, 2011 (n = 8).
| Donor (sex, age in years) |
Day | Anti-HEV | Mikrogen | Wantai | Immunoblota | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O2N (1) | O2C (4) | O2M (1) | O3 (2) | ∑ (interpretation) | ||||||||
| Gt1 | Gt3 | Gt1 | Gt3 | Gt1 | Gt3 | |||||||
| D1 (M, 27) |
5 | IgM | Negative | Negative | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | 0 (negative) |
| IgG | Negative | Negative | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | 0 (negative) | ||
| 13 | IgM | Positive | Positive | +/− | + | + | − | − | +/− | +/− | 5 (positive) | |
| IgG | Positive | Positive | − | − | +/− | +/− | − | − | − | 0 (negative) | ||
| D2 (M, 37) |
35 | IgM | Borderline | Positive | +++ | ++ | +/− | +/− | − | − | − | 1 (negative) |
| IgG | Positive | Positive | + | +/− | − | + | − | +++ | ++ | 7 (positive) | ||
| D3 (M, 26) |
0 | IgM | Positive | Positive | +/− | + | + | +/− | − | − | − | 5 (positive) |
| IgG | Negative | Positive | − | +/− | +/− | +/− | − | − | − | 0 (negative) | ||
| 8 | IgM | Positive | Positive | +/− | + | + | +/− | − | − | − | 5 (positive) | |
| IgG | Positive | Positive | − | +/− | +/− | + | − | − | − | 4 (positive) | ||
| D4 (M, 53) |
42 | IgM | Positive | Positive | − | − | − | +/− | − | − | − | 0 (negative) |
| IgG | Positive | Positive | − | − | + | + | − | + | + | 6 (positive) | ||
| 48 | IgM | Positive | Positive | − | − | − | +/− | − | − | − | 0 (negative) | |
| IgG | Positive | Positive | − | − | + | + | − | + | + | 6 (positive) | ||
| D5 (M, 26) |
0 | IgM | Positive | Positive | +/− | +/− | + | − | − | + | − | 6 (positive) |
| IgG | Positive | Positive | − | + | + | ++ | − | +++ | +/− | 7 (positive) | ||
| 11 | IgM | Positive | Positive | − | − | +/− | +/− | − | +/− | − | 0 (negative) | |
| IgG | Positive | Positive | − | + | + | ++ | − | +++ | +/− | 7 (positive) | ||
| D6 (M, 27) |
21 | IgM | Negative | Negative | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | 0 (negative) |
| IgG | Negative | Negative | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | 0 (negative) | ||
| 28 | IgM | Positive | Positive | +/− | +/− | + | − | − | +++ | +++ | 6 (positive) | |
| IgG | Positive | Positive | − | − | − | +/− | − | ++ | +++ | 2 (negative) | ||
| 35 | IgM | Positive | Positive | +/− | +/− | +/− | +/− | − | +++ | +++ | 2 (negative) | |
| IgG | Positive | Positive | + | +/− | +/− | + | − | ++ | +++ | 7 (positive) | ||
| D7 (M, 22) |
40 | IgM | Positive | Positive | + | + | +/− | +/− | − | + | − | 3 (borderline) |
| IgG | Negative | Positive | + | +/− | − | − | − | +/ − | − | 1 (negative) | ||
| 46 | IgM | Positive | Positive | +/− | +/− | − | − | − | +/ − | − | 0 (negative) | |
| IgG | Borderline | Positive | ++ | − | − | +/− | − | − | − | 1 (negative) | ||
| 49 | IgM | Borderline | Positive | +/− | +/− | − | − | − | +/− | − | 0 (negative) | |
| IgG | Positive | Positive | ++ | +/− | − | +/− | − | +/− | − | 1 (negative) | ||
| D8 (M, 26) |
32 | IgM | Positive | Positive | − | +/− | +/− | − | − | − | − | 0 (negative) |
| IgG | Negative | Negative | +/− | +/− | − | − | − | − | − | 0 (negative) | ||
| 39 | IgM | Negative | Positive | − | +/− | +/− | +/− | − | − | − | 0 (negative) | |
| IgG | Positive | Positive | +/− | +/− | +/− | +/− | − | +/− | − | 0 (negative) | ||
| 46 | IgM | Negative | Positive | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | 0 (negative) | |
| IgG | Positive | Positive | +/− | +/− | + | ++ | − | +/− | − | 4 (positive) | ||
| D9 (M, 21) |
49 | IgM | Negative | Negative | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT |
| IgG | Positive | Positive | − | +/− | + | + | − | − | +/− | 4 (positive) | ||
| 52 | IgM | Negative | Negative | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | |
| IgG | Positive | Positive | − | +/− | + | + | − | − | +/− | 4 (positive) | ||
| D10 (M, 20) |
59 | IgM | Negative | Negative | +/− | +/− | − | − | − | − | − | 0 (negative) |
| IgG | Positive | Positive | ++ | +/− | + | ++ | − | − | − | 5 (positive) | ||
| 63 | IgM | Negative | Negative | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | 0 (negative) | |
| IgG | Positive | Positive | ++ | +/− | + | ++ | − | − | − | 5 (positive) | ||
HEV: hepatitis E virus; M: male; NT: not tested.
a O2N, O2C, O2M, O3 (Gt1/Gt3: genotype 1 and 3): highly purified recombinant HEV antigens provided by the manufacturer; numeric score in parenthesis. −: no reaction; +/−: very weak intensity (< cut-off); +: weak intensity (= cut-off); ++: strong intensity (> cut-off); +++: very strong intensity. Interpretation: ≤ 2: negative; 3: borderline; ≥ 4: positive; only reactions with intensities higher than + were included in the interpretation. Numeric scores of antigens were summed up for final interpretation: once for samples with +, ++ or +++, and only once per antigen if Gt1 and Gt3 or both reacted. Calculation example for sample D2 IgG: 1 × score 1 (O2N Gt3 positive) + 1 × score 4 (O2C Gt3 positive) + 1 × score 2 (O3 Gt1 and Gt3 positive)