Comparison of three HSV-2 immunoassays: Focus-Kalon-BioKit

By David Kilpatrick, PhD and Abbas Vafai, PhD

INTRODUCTION: Various assays have been developed over the last thirty years for detecting Herpes virus antibodies in patient sera. The three most commonly used assays are Western blot assay (WBA), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and enzyme immnodot assays (EIA). Of these, the Western blot assay (WBA) is still considered the “gold standard” in the detection of antibodies to viral proteins. The sensitivity of this assay is primarily due to the detection of antibodies to more than one viral protein in the single assay. Read more

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The need for a more reliable commercial test for HSV

By David Kilpatrick, PhD and Abbas Vafai, PhD

INTRODUCTION: There are several commercial immunoassays for HSV on the market (Western blot, Dot blot or standard ELISA assays). Of these, the University of Washington Western blot assay (UW-WB) is considered the “gold standard” for assays to detect Herpes virus antibodies in patient sera1University of Washington Western blot. https://depts.washington.edu/. While this FDA approved assay is considered to be very accurate, a second confirmatory assay is often preferred as most patients are unaware of their genital Herpes status2Ashley-Morrow, Rhoda, and David Friedrich, 2003. The inaccuracy of Certain Commercial Enzyme Immunoassays in Diagnosing Genital Infections with Herpes Simplex Virus Types 1 and 2. Am J Clin Pathol, 120:839-844.. Read more

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Expression of 16 HHV Antigens for Diagnostic Assays

By David Kilpatrick, PhD and Abbas Vafai, PhD

INTRODUCTION: Finding antigens which can be used for human Herpes virus (HHV) assays can be challenging. Many technical concerns need to be addressed, including how to express sufficient quantities of each antigen, and once produced, how the immune system responds to each antigen. In this paper, Brenner et. al, cloned and expressed 16 HHV antigens to be used in a fluorescence capture bead assay. Read more

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