DEVELOPMENT OF A BATCH-PROCESSED, PASSIVE LATEX AGGLUTINATION-TEST FOR CYTOMEGALOVIRUS

Background: The passive latex agglutination test is commonly used for the identification of cytomegalovirus IgG and IgM antibodies. This tes t is used because of its sensitivity, specificity, speed, and ease of performance, but it is unsuitable for large numbers of samples or for batch processing. Study Design and Methods: To solve this problem, com parative studies to assess the cytomegalovirus passive latex agglutina tion test on microtiter plates were done with a new photometric partic le agglutination method (PPAM) and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assa y as a control. Results: A total of 3430 sera were tested using both t he PPAM and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A high degree (97.6%) o f correspondence between the results of the tests was observed. The ne w PPAM was easier and faster to use (96 wells in 25 min). Conclusion: These results, as well as the possibility of adapting this method to a fully automated system, suggest that the PPAM could be an important c ontribution to the field of infection serology.