Viroimmunoenzymoassay for detection of anti-penicilloyl antibodies and penicilloyl residues: comparison of results obtained by radio-, viro- and enzymoimmunoassay.

A new technic named viroimmunoenzymoassay is described. The principle is the same as the classical viroimmunoassay which uses as tracer a bacteriophage bound covalently to an hapten. Immuno-specific neutralization of these modified bacteriophages by an hapten antiserum allows to detect and to test hapten antibodies or the haptens with a great sensitivity. In the new technic the visualization of the bacterial lysis is estimated by measure of the amount of beta-galactosidase which is released into the medium by Escherichia coli BB bacteria. These are previously induced by isopropyl thiogalactoside or lactose. The method is applied to the assay of penicilloyl groups bound covalently with another molecule, and its performances are compared with three other classical immunological methods: the radio-, enzymo- and viroimmunoassay.