Mumps IgA ELISA
The IMMUNOLAB Mumps IgA Antibody ELISA Test Kit has been designed for the the detection and the quantitative determination of specific IgA antibodies against Mumps virus in serum and plasma. Further applications in other body fluids are possible and can be requested from the Technical Service of IMMUNOLAB.
Mumps (Parotitis) is a common contagious disease with relatively moderate symptoms during childhood, but increasing complications, when adults are infected. The causative agent of mumps is a virus of the Paramyxoviridae family. The virus normally infects children at the age of 4 to 10. The infection is mainly transmitted by the airborne route, but is also spread by various objects contaminated by the patient saliva. The disease shows a seasonal prevalence with the greatest incidence in winter and spring. Both a mumps infection or vaccination lead to a persistent immunity.
The typical symptom associated with a mumps infection is a „parotitis“ (swelling of the parotid glands). Additionally pathological involvement of the CNS and various glandular organs (pancreas, thymus, thyroids) is a typical feature of mumps. A mumps induced meningitis is one of the most frequent manifestations of the disease which can also appear without parotitis. The published data about the presence of meningitis vary between 1.4% and 66% of the clinically ill patients. In most cases there follows reconvalescence without complications.
The recognition of Mumps in the laboratory is mostly done by detection of the infectious agent itself or by the determination of virus-specific antibodies. The serodiagnosis plays a major part. Besides the classical methods like complement fixation, hemagglutination and neutralisation tests have been introduced a series of modern assays like immunofluorescence, radio immunoassay and enzyme immunoassay. The immunity of an individual is monitored by an IgG ELISA. Increasing IgG titers are helpful in the determination of the causative agent because cross reactions with Parainfluenza-Virus type 2 may lead to a wrong interpretation of the patient reports. In the early stage of the disease, significant IgM titers may be monitored.
The IMMUNOLAB Mumps IgA antibody test kit is based on the principle of the enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Mumps 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 IgA antibodies of the serum and the immobilized Mumps 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-IgA 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 IgA antibodies is directly proportional to the intensity of the color.
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