The use of human antigen-specific monoclonal antibodies in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the determination of anti-HBsAg antibody subclasses.

A human monoclonal anti-HBsAg antibody (IgG1, lambda) was used as a reference for an ELISA determination of the serum levels of anti-HBsAg antibodies in human volunteers after vaccination with H-B vax. The IgG subclass distribution of specific antibodies showed a marked dominance of IgG1 antibodies. In addition, small amounts of specific IgG4 antibodies were occasionally found, suggesting a different pattern from that found after natural disease. The novel use of a human monoclonal antibody to measure specific antibodies may give a more accurate determination of specific IgG subclass levels than previously available methods.