Brucella IgG ELISA
The IMMUNOLAB Brucella IgG Antibody ELISA Test Kit has been designed for the the detection and the quantitative determination of specific IgG antibodies against Brucella in serum and plasma. Further applications in other body fluids are possible and can be requested from the Technical Service of IMMUNOLAB.
Brucellosis is an infectious disease caused by small ellipsoid, gram-negative bacteria. There are four different germs: Br. abortus, Br. melitensis, Br. suis and Br. canis. People are infected by contact with infected animals or by eating meat or drinking unpasteurized milk from infected animals. As a rule, infected humans are not contagious. Brucellosis is most frequent in young and middle-aged individuals. Endangered persons are butchers, farmers, owners of pets, veterinaries and tourists in Southern countries. The appearance of brucellosis shows a prevalence during winter and spring.
The incubation period is between one and three weeks, but may be as long as two months. Br. abortus and Br. melitensis may cause Bang’s Disease, or in rare cases Malta Fever. The first appears occasionally with a low pathogenicity for man. Typical symptoms for Bang’s Disease are periodically occurring fever, splenomegaly and swelling of lymph nodes. In some cases an inflammation of different joints and organs occurs. The Malta Fever is caused by the epidemic type of brucellosis, and infection almost always leads to a manifest illness. Some infections with Brucella can cause Brucella Hepatitis. It is possible that there is a link between an infection with Brucella and the outbreak of multiple sclerosis.
During an antibiotic therapy or a chronic infection, the detection of Brucella spec. in blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, sputum or other body fluids could be negative. Serological methods like agglutination, complement fixation reaction, Brucella Coombs test and ELISA are good alternatives. The monitoring of antibodies can serve as a usual indication of the status of infection. During the first days, IgM is the only immunoglobulin that appears. As the disease progresses, IgM recedes quantitatively and IgG becomes predominant. In chronic brucellosis, IgG may be produced for an extended period.
The IMMUNOLAB Brucella IgG antibody test kit is based on the principle of the enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Brucella antigen is bound on the surface of the microtiter strips. Diluted patient serum or ready-to-use standards are pipetted into the wells of the microtiter plate. A binding between the IgG antibodies of the serum and the immobilized Brucella antigen takes place. After a one hour incubation at room temperature, the plate is rinsed with diluted wash solution, in order to remove unbound material. Then ready-to-use anti-human-IgG peroxidase conjugate is added and incubated for 30 minutes. After a further washing step, the substrate (TMB) solution is pipetted and incubated for 20 minutes, inducing the development of a blue dye in the wells. The color development is terminated by the addition of a stop solution, which changes the color from blue to yellow. The resulting dye is measured spectrophotometrically at the wavelength of 450 nm. The concentration of the IgG antibodies is directly proportional to the intensity of the color.The IMMUNOLAB Brucella IgG antibody test kit is based on the principle of the enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Brucella antigen is bound on the surface of the microtiter strips. Diluted patient serum or ready-to-use standards are pipetted into the wells of the microtiter plate. A binding between the IgG antibodies of the serum and the immobilized Brucella antigen takes place. After a one hour incubation at room temperature, the plate is rinsed with diluted wash solution, in order to remove unbound material. Then ready-to-use anti-human-IgG peroxidase conjugate is added and incubated for 30 minutes. After a further washing step, the substrate (TMB) solution is pipetted and incubated for 20 minutes, inducing the development of a blue dye in the wells. The color development is terminated by the addition of a stop solution, which changes the color from blue to yellow. The resulting dye is measured spectrophotometrically at the wavelength of 450 nm. The concentration of the IgG antibodies is directly proportional to the intensity of the color.
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