Comparison of commercial methods of immunoblot, ELISA, and chemiluminescent immunoassay for detecting type-specific herpes simplex viruses-1 and -2 IgG

Abstract

Background: Serology for type-specific herpes simplex virus (HSV) is based on the use of the respective glycoprotein G (gG).

Methods: Chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA; BIO-FLASH^® , Biokit, Spain), ELISA (HerpeSelect^® , Focus, USA), and immunoblot (IB; Virotech, Germany) for detecting HSV-1- and HSV-2-specific IgG were compared using 384 serum samples received for HSV serology. The samples were classified as positive or negative according to a consensus criterion.

Results: For HSV-1, 262 samples were positive and 118 were negative (four samples were unclassifiable). IB showed agreement, sensitivity, and specificity values of 98.68%, 98.47% and 99.15%, respectively. The corresponding figures for CLIA and ELISA were 98.95%, 99.24% and 98.31%, and 98.16%, 99.62% and 94.92%, respectively. For HSV-2, 106 samples were positive and 278 were negative. Agreement, sensitivity, and specificity of IB were 99.48%, 98.11%, and 100%, respectively. The corresponding figures for CLIA and ELISA were 99.48%, 99.06% and 99.64%, and 98.18%, 99.06% and 97.84%, respectively.

Conclusion: The three methods showed excellent and equivalent performance characteristics for the detection of type-specific IgG to HSV-1 and HSV-2.

Keywords: chemiluminescent immunoassay; enzyme immunoassay; herpes simplex virus type 1; herpes simplex virus type 2; immunoblot.