A NOVEL-APPROACH TO THE LABORATORY DIAGNOSIS OF CHLAMYDIA-TRACHOMATISINFECTIONS USING MONOCLONAL ANTIIDIOTYPIC ANTIBODIES

We have developed a novel enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for the specific de tection of Chlamydia trachomatis utilizing a monoclonal anti-idiotypic antibody to an antibody directed against a chlamydia specific epitope on 60 kDa heat-shock protein (HSP60). The basis of the assay is the i nhibition of the binding of idiotype to anti-idiotype by antigen prese nt in test samples. Two configurations of the assay were developed: a blocking EIA and a competition EIA. Greater sensitivity was observed u sing the competition EIA, with the assay detecting purified recombinan t HSP60 and purified chlamydia in a concentration-dependent manner fro m 0,01 to 10 mug protein and from 0.5 to 12 mug total protein, respect ively. The assay is highly specific and offers several potential advan tages over currently available EIAs for the detection of this pathogen .