Application to immunoglobulin M capture hemadherence assays of hemagglutination of monkey erythrocytes by native and recombinant human parvovirus B19 antigens.

Human parvovirus B19 recently was shown to agglutinate baboon and human erythrocytes. We have now demonstrated that both recombinant and native B19 antigens agglutinate rhesus, cynomolgus, and Saimiri monkey erythrocytes. Using cynomolgus erythrocytes and the recombinant antigen, we developed an immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody capture hemadherence test (MACHAT) for the detection of specific B19 IgM antibodies in human sera. The results obtained with MACHAT were compared with those obtained with an IgM capture enzyme immunoassay (MACEIA) employing the native antigen routinely used in our laboratory. For 229 patient serum samples, we found 96% agreement between the results of the two assays. There was some evidence that MACHAT was slightly more sensitive than MACEIA. Our results add to the range of erythrocytes that can be agglutinated by B19 virus and show that native as well as recombinant antigens may be used in MACHAT.