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Measurement of Mycoplasma Pneumoniae Mycoplasmacidal Antibody in Human Serum

From the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014, and the Research Foundation of The Children's Hospital of the District of Columbia, Washington, D. C. 20009

Abstract

Investigation of the conditions which affect the mycoplasmacidal action of antibody and complement upon Mycoplasma pneumoniae indicated the importance of a filtered suspension of predominantly single organisms, and an appropriate concentration of cations. The mycoplasmacidal effect of antibody and complement resembled the hemolytic reaction in that variation in concentration of either antibody or complement yielded an S-shaped curve. The antigens involved in the mycoplasmacidal reaction appeared to be the glycolipids of the organism which had previously been shown to be of major importance in the complement fixation and metabolism inhibition reactions. The standardized mycoplasmacidal antibody assay proved to be considerably more sensitive than the conventional assay systems for measurement of M. pneumoniae antibody in human serum.