A comparison of the sensitivity and specificity of sialodacryoadenitis virus, Parker's rat coronavirus, and mouse hepatitis virus-infected cells as a source of antigen for the detection of antibody to rat coronaviruses.

Sialodacryoadenitis virus (SDAV) and Parker's rat coronavirus (PRC) are two recognized viral strains which cause spontaneous disease in the laboratory rat. Currently there is no recognized practical procedure which will accurately differentiate infections with these strains. Using SDAV- and PRC-infected L-2 cells as the source of antigen, and sera from rats collected post inoculation with either of these viral strains, the indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) procedure was used to determine whether antibody titers could be used to differentiate infections from the homologous and heterologous virus. There was no detectable difference in the sensitivity or specificity of these systems in detecting antibody to the homologous or heterologous virus. Thus there was no evidence that SDAV- and PRC-infected cells would serve to differentiate antibody to the homologous virus using the IFA technique. In addition, antibody titers were similar when mouse hepatitis virus (MHV)-infected cells were used as the source of antigen for the IFA technique. However, using MHV or SDAV-infected cells as the source of antigen, there was a significant difference in antibody titers to the homologous virus detected using the immunoenzyme technique.