CVI Accepts, published online ahead of print on 19 November 2008

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Clin. Vaccine Immunol. doi:10.1128/CVI.00351-08
Copyright (c) 2008, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Comparison of a Multiplexed HSV Type-specific IgG Serology Assay to ELISA, Immunoblot and Western Blot

Thomas B. Martins^*, Ryan J. Welch^*, Harry R. Hill, and Christine M. Litwin

Associated Regional and University Pathologists (ARUP) Institute for Clinical and Experimental Pathology, Salt Lake City, UT; and the Department of Pathology, Pediatrics and Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: martintb{at}aruplab.com. ryan.welch{at}aruplab.com.

The human herpes simplex virus (HSV) is highly pathogenic with infections caused by two distinct antigenic types, HSV-1 and HSV-2. Differentiation of antibodies to these specific antigens can provide useful information in the diagnosis of subclinical or undiagnosed HSV type 2 infections, as well as in reducing the risk of maternal transfer of HSV to the neonate. In this study, a multiplex assay capable of concurrent detection of HSV-1 and 2 IgG antibodies was compared to immunoblot, ELISA and Western blot assays. Agreement of the multiplex assay was 95% or greater (n=332) for both HSV-1 and 2 compared to the three assays. Sensitivity for HSV-1 ranged from 94.9- 97.9% with specificities of 93-97%. For HSV-2, the sensitivity and specificity ranges were 92.6-98.9% and 98.3-98.7%, respectively. Our studies show that the multiplexed microsphere-based assay offers a sensitive and specific alternative method for the detection HSV-1 and 2 type specific antibodies. Advantages of the multiplex assay include multiple results per assay, the inclusion of internal controls for each specimen, and higher throughput of results.