Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Gazi Medical Journal, cilt.13, sa.4, ss.177-186, 2002 (Scopus)
Purpose: It had been thought that diphtheria was a very rare disease because of routine immunization programs conducted worldwide. However, the epidemic seen in the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union prompted worries that public immunity levels might not be sufficient and therefore the disease might spread. In order to conduct vaccination programs to eliminate the disease, first of all, the serum antibody levels of all age groups to diphtheria toxin (DT) should be measured with a standardized method. However, the cost of commercial anti-DT ELISA kits is very high. In this study we aimed to develop an anti-DT ELISA system that could be used for both diagnosis and screening, with high specificity and sensitivity but low cost. Methods: Solid phase was coated with diphtheria toxin while enzyme-labeled DT was used as conjugate. Since the anti-DT antibodies in serum or other samples to be measured will bind DT in the solid phase and conjugate with its two Fab ends, the system can be used for sera from other species as well. This in-house ELISA was also compared with a commercially available anti-DT ELISA kit. Results: Although the commercial anti-DT ELISA kit had restrictions for measuring antibody levels below 0.1 IU/ml, the in-house ELISA system managed to measure anti-DT antibody levels below 0.01 IU/ml with a dynamic analytical measuring range between 0.01 and 1 IU/ml. Conclusion: The in-house anti-DT ELISA system is a highly sensitive, reliable and low-cost test technique that can be used in the diagnosis and screening of immunity to diphtheria. In addition, it can be used in many different in vivo and in vitro investigations of humoral immune responses.