Evaluation of a multianalyte profiling assay and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for serological examination of Epstein-Barr virus-specific antibody responses in diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2008 Nov;15(11):1684-8. doi: 10.1128/CVI.00135-08. Epub 2008 Sep 3.

Abstract

Assessment of antibody responses to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antigens has been used to assist in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) diagnosis by several methods. In this study, we evaluated an in-house Luminex multianalyte profiling (xMAP) technology and commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits for serological examination of EBV-specific antibody responses in 135 NPC patients and 130 healthy controls. Four EBV biomarkers were measured: immunoglobulin A (IgA) against viral capsid antigen (VCA), EBV nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1), diffused early antigen (EA-D), and IgG against EA-D. The sensitivities and specificities of the four markers ranged between 71.5 and 90% for xMAP assays and 80 and 92% for ELISA. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the combined markers in the xMAP assay had overall sensitivity and specificity values of 82% and 92%, respectively. The correlation coefficient (r) values for the xMAP assay and ELISA were lowest for IgA-VCA (0.468) and highest for IgA-EBNA1 (0.846); for IgA-EA-D and IgG-EA-D, the r values were 0.719 and 0.798, respectively. The concordances of the two methods for NPC discrimination were good (79 to 88%). Our results suggest that both the xMAP assay and ELISA are satisfactory for EBV antibody evaluation when multiple antigens are included.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Antibodies, Viral / blood*
  • Antigens, Viral
  • Capsid Proteins
  • Carcinoma / virology*
  • Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / diagnosis*
  • Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigens
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunoassay / methods
  • Immunoglobulin A / blood
  • Immunoglobulin G / blood
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / virology*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Serologic Tests / methods

Substances

  • Antibodies, Viral
  • Antigens, Viral
  • Capsid Proteins
  • Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigens
  • Epstein-Barr viral capsid antigen
  • Epstein-Barr virus early antigen diffuse component
  • Immunoglobulin A
  • Immunoglobulin G
  • EBV-encoded nuclear antigen 1