Ovalbumin immunity in the rat: simultaneous testing of IgM, IgG and IgE response measured by ELISA and delayed-type hypersensitivity.

After immunization of Wistar rats with different concentrations of ovalbumin (OA) emulsified in complete H37Ra adjuvant, the optimal antigen dose for specific IgM, IgG and IgE production and for delayed-type hypersensitivity appeared to be the same. It is therefore concluded that in the rat these function tests can be combined, which decreases the number of experimental animals needed. For the determination of IgM, IgG and IgE antibodies to OA, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used, which proved to be a specific method. In addition, using a multi-channel photometer, it is shown that specific antibody concentrations can be readily quantified by micro-ELISA instead of using end-point titrations.