Rapid culture-amplified immunofluorescent test for the detection of human rhinoviruses in clinical samples: Evidence of a common epitope in culture

✍ Scribed by W. Al-Mulla; A. El Mekki; W. Al-Nakib

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 637 KB
• Volume: 42
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.1890420215

✦ Synopsis

Ohio HeLa cells in multichamber slides were inoculated with nasal samples from patients presenting with common cold symptoms and incubated at 33°C with gentle shaking for 48 hours. The cultures were fixed with cold acetone, and viral antigens were detected by immunofluorescence using an antirhinovirus type 2 (HRV-2) polyclonal serum. Of 158 samples, 58 (36.7%) and 57 (36%) were positive for HRV by virus isolation (confirmed by acid lability test) and by culture-amplified immunofluorescent (CAIF) test, respectively. The correlation between the two tests was highly significant (P = 0.0001). Nasal washings or nasalhhroat swabs were equally suitable for detecting virus by isolation but not by CAIF. On the other hand, nasal washings were better than nasalkhroat swabs for detecting HRV by CAIF. In an ELISA system, the polyclonal anti-HRV-2 serum recognized a rhinovirus antigen expressed in situ within 48 hr postinfection by all the 11 HRV serotypes investigated. However, 60 hr postinfection, the anti-HRV-2 serum recognized only homologous and closely related HRV antigens. These results suggest that a rhinovirus "common" antigen may be expressed some 48 hr after infection of Ohio HeLa cells with rhinoviruses. The CAIF test provides a sensitive, rapid and reliable procedure to detect wild-type rhinovirus infection as well as a clear alternative to detection by isolation.