[Antibody response following Campylobacter infections determined by ELISA]

Abstract

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was adapted to measure immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgM, and IgA classes of human serum antibody to Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli. A total of 631 sera from 210 patients with verified Campylobacter enteritis were examined at various intervals after infection, and a control group of 164 sera were tested to determine the cut-off for negative results. With 90 percentile specificity, IgG, IgM, and IgA showed a sensitivity of 71, 60, and 80%, respectively. By combining all three antibody classes, the sensitivity was 92% within 35 days after infection, whereas within 90 days after infection, a combined sensitivity of 90% was found (IgG 68%, IgM 52%, and IgA 76%). Furthermore, we showed that 16% of the patients developed rheumatological symptoms after their Campylobacter gastrointestinal infection. We conclude that measurement of Campylobacter antibodies is a useful diagnostic tool to determine Campylobacter infections preceeding Guillain-Barré syndrome and for the investigation of post-enteritis reactive arthritis.