Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for quantitating the humoral immune response to the colonization factor antigen of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli.

The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique was used to quantitate, in milligrams per milliliter, anti-colonization factor antigen/I (CFA/I) immunoglobulin G (IgG) in acute- and convalescent-phase sera of individuals who experienced diarrhea associated with CFA/I-positive enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli. Purified CFA/I was used as antigen to coat polystyrene Microtiter plate wells for the determination of anti-CFA/I antibody. A reference anti-CFA/I IgG preparation was obtained by affinity chromatography of a high-titered serum with a CFA/I-Sepharose 4B column; IgG was the only class of immunoglobulin detectable in this serum as anti-CFA/I. Goat anti-human IgG conjugated to alkaline phosphatase was used in the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Quantitation of IgG in the reference anti-CFA/I serum was achieved by comparison with a known sample of pure human IgG. Anti-CFA/I in test sera was quantitated by titration with CFA/I-coated Microtiter plate wells in the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, using a standard curve obtained with the reference anti-CFA/I serum. Anti-CFA/I IgG in paired sera was determined as percentage of total IgG by using the radial immunodiffusion technique to quantitate total IgG for each test serum. Diarrhea with isolation of CFA/I-positive enterotoxigenic E. coli was associated with a significant rise in serum anti-CFA/I IgG when these values were expressed as either milligrams of IgG per milliliter or as percentage of total IgG, although the response varied quantitatively and nonresponders were detected. None of the matched controls showed an anti-CFA/I IgG response. Further elucidation of the immune response to enterotoxigenic E. coli can now be accomplished by applying these methods to determine the class and specificity of immunoglobulins in external secretions such as saliva and intestinal contents.