Direct comparisons between a radio-immune antiglobulin test, an enzyme-linked antiglobulin test, and a haemagglutination assay: application to the screening of anti-RBC sera and monoclonal antibodies.

Direct comparative studies between a radio-immune antiglobulin test (RIAT), an enzyme-linked antiglobulin test (ELAT) and a haemagglutination assay (HA) were carried out using anti-RBC hybridoma culture supernatants, monoclonal antibodies of established specificity, and immune mouse sera. The direct comparisons revealed that in many cases, RIAT and ELAT were slightly more sensitive than HA for the detection and study of anti-RBC antibodies. RIAT and ELAT detect non-agglutinating antibodies and sub-agglutinating concentrations of antibodies which would be missed if HA is used as the only screening test for hybridoma supernatants.