Rapid detection of Treponema pallidum and cytomegalovirus specific IgM antibodies with the passive haemagglutination.

For the detection of Treponema pallidum-specific IgM antibodies in patients' serum samples four simple and rapid methods are compared and evaluated. They show decreasing sensitivity and specificity in the row listed: (1) Treponema pallidum haemagglutination (TPHA) after IgM separation by affinity chromatography on controlled-pore glass heads (anti-IgM-CPG), or (2) by ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose; (3) solid-phase haemagglutination (SPHA) in glass microvials or (4) on polysterene microplates. The latter tests have found to be inferior, although they can be considerably improved by the use of affinity chromatography--purified catch antibodies. The commercially available DEAE-cellulose microcolumn delivers a simple method for IgM separation, and in spite of a relatively high IgA contamination it proved to be useful also for CMV-specific IgM haemagglutination tests, as compared to ELISA results.