Antibody response to human parvovirus B19 in patients with primary infection by immunoblot assay with recombinant proteins.

Human parvovirus B19 recombinant VP1 and VP2 capsid proteins were produced by a procaryotic pGEX expression plasmid to evaluate the humoral response by immunoblot assay in 14 patients with primary infection. The same concentrations of VP1 and VP2 recombinant proteins were used. This demonstrates that VP1 immunoglobulin M detection and/or VP1 immunoglobulin G seroconversion is a reliable marker of primary infections. Consequently, detection of antibodies to B19 VP1 might be helpful for identifying patients at risk for chronic B19 infection or patients who are susceptible to viral reinfection.