Comparison of SeroMP IgA with four other commercial assays for serodiagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia

Acute phase serum samples from 23 patients with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneum onia were examined for specific antibodies with microparticle agglutination (MAG)-assay, complement fixation (CF)-test, IgM-specific ELISA, and Immuno card-based IgM-EIA. A novel 3-h IgA-ELISA (SeroMP-IgA) was tested to assess its diagnostic value. For MAG, CF, IgM-ELISA, card-based IgM-EIA, and IgA- ELISA positive results were obtained in 87%, 87%, 91%, 87%, and 100%, respe ctively. Overall concordance was 78%. Specificity testing of 46 healthy blo od donors revealed an optimal diagnostic cut-off range of 22-30 IgA-ELISA b inding units(BU)/mL resulting in 91%-100% specificity and 100%-96% sensitiv ity for serologic diagnosis of acute M, pneumoniae infection. (C) 2001 Else vier Science Inc. All rights reserved.