Comparison of continuous and discontinuous counterimmunoelectrophoresis with immunodiffusion in identification of candida antibody using HS antigen.

We have compared continuous counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CCIE) and discontinuous counterimmunoelectrophoresis (DCIE) with immunodiffusion (ID) in the identification of Candida albicans antibody using HS antigen. Eighteen sera with a titer of 1/1 to 1/32 1/32 by CCIE were titered by CCIE and ID. Fewer were positive by CCIE and ID (13 of 18 and 9 of 18, respectively). Furthermore, the titers were lower when measured by these two methods in comparison to DCIE (4 of 18 and 3 of 18 sera had titers greather than or equal to 1/8 in comparison with 7 of 18 greater than or equal to 1/8 by DCIE). Finally, DCIE was found to be much faster than CCIE and ID. After 20 min of electrophoresis, 17 of 21 sera were positive by DCIE, whereas none were positive by CCIE. Even after 90 min, only 10 of 21 were positive by CCIE, whereas 4 of 21 were positive by ID. The increased sensitivity and speed of DCIE over CCIE and ID suggest that DCIE is preferable to these other methods in the measurement of candida antibody using HS antigen.