Class-specific antibody response to group B Neisseria meningitidis capsular polysaccharide: use of polylysine precoating in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was developed for measuring immunoglobulin class-specific antibodies to Neisseria meningitidis capsular polysaccharides. The polysaccharides were fixed to the solid phase by precoating the polystyrene surface with basic polyamino acids. Polylysine precoating was found to give optimal antibody values with the meningococcal polysaccharides studied. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure antibodies against group B meningococcal polysaccharide in healthy adults and in patients with group B meningitis. Antibodies to group B polysaccharide in sera obtained from healthy adults were primarily immunoglobulin M (IgM). Although the antibody response to disease was mostly IgM, both IgG and IgM antibodies increased. Infection with group B organisms stimulated anti-group B polysaccharide antibodies even in young patients, aged 6 to 7 months, and the magnitude of the B polysaccharide response increased with the age of the patient.