USING DISTILLED WATER FOR THE EXTRACTION OF MUCOSAL ANTIBODIES AND THE SUBSEQUENT APPLICATION IN RSV NEUTRALIZATION TEST

Virus neutralization (VN) is an important functional test for evaluati ng RSV vaccines, also encompassing in mucosal secretion of the respira tory tract considering the infection route. In our previous study, an immunogloblin extraction method described by Bergquist et al. was adop ted for RSV ELISA, but it was not suitable for virus neutralization te st due to the cell toxicity of the 2% saponin solution used for the an tibody extraction. In order to overcome this problem, several solvents including distilled water were tested in the present study for the ca pacity to extract immunogloblins. Antibodies in the extracts were eval uated and compared by ELISA. Distilled water was as efficient as the 2 % saponin solution for extraction of total IgA, RSV specific IgA and I gG. More importantly, the organ extracts obtained subsequently could b e used for virus neutralization test without causing adverse effect on the cell culture. Therefore, distilled water was finally chosen as th e solvent for immunogloblin extraction from mucosal organs when both E LISA and virus neutralization test are required.