COMPARISON OF RADIOIMMUNOASSAY AND ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOASSAY METHODS FOR DETECTION OF HISTOPLASMA-CAPSULATUM VAR CAPSULATUM ANTIGEN

The purpose of this study was to compare the conventional radioimmunoa ssay (RIA) to an enzyme-linked immunoassay (EIA) far the measurement o f Histoplasma antigen in banked urine specimens, A correlation between the two methods would at allow the EIA to be used as a nonradioactive alternative to the established I-125 RIA, The study used stored urine from patients diagnosed with histoplasmosis during an outbreak in Ind ianapolis which began in 1988, Control specimens from healthy adults, patients with other fungal infections, urinary tract infections, or no nfungal pneumonia were also tested, Both the RIA and EIA were run conc urrently, The RIA system measured antigen levels of 0.4 to 27.0 RIA un its, while the ETA measured antigen levels of 0.6 to 20.1 units. Both the EIA and RU defected measurable antigen levels in urine from 50 of 56 patients (89%) with disseminated disease and 11 of 30 patients (37% ) with self-limiting disease, One of 96 control specimens, from a pati ent with paracoccidioidomycosis, was positive viith both systems. Anti gen levels measured by EIA correlated well with those measured by the established RIA method (correlation coefficient, 0.974), The EIA is an acceptable alternative to the RIA for measuring Histoplasma antigen l evels in urine specimens.