Correlation of herpes simplex virus antibody titers and specific lymphocyte stimulation in adult blood donors.

Antibody titers to herpes simplex virus type 1 in sera from healthy adult donors were assayed by complement fixation, microneutralization, and an enzyme immunoassay (ELISA). This last test proved to be the most sensitive method for antibody detection. It was estimated that ELISA antibody titers were up to 40-fold higher than neutralizing antibody titers and up to 100-fold higher than complement fixation antibody titers. Due to the higher sensitivity of ELISA, only 3 of 36 blood donors tested in this assay were shown to be seronegative, whereas 6 additional persons of the same group were termed seronegative by the microneutralization assay. Furthermore, four of the latter also did not respond in the complement fixation test. In vitro stimulation of peripheral lymphocytes by using a partially purified herpes simplex virus type 1 particle antigen was achieved for all seropositive blood donors. Only those three donors who were ELISA negative reacted negatively in this stimulation assay. From these results it may be concluded that ELISA is an appropriate method not only for rapid and sensitive antibody determination but also for selecting herpes simplex virus-negative patients.