Haemagglutination inhibition assay of the common determinants and subspecificities of Australia antigen.

  • 1 November 1974
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 27  (5) , 871-8
Abstract
Antigenic determinants of Australia antigen (AuAg) may be determined by haemagglutination inhibition with ease and high sensitivity. The reaction depends on the inhibitory effect of the test antigen-positive sample on the agglutination by specific antibody of glutaraldehyde-fixed sheep erythrocytes which have been tanned and coated with AuAg of different specificities. The standard monospecific antibody reactants are directed against one or other of the common antigens, a and Re, or against the subtypic determinants, d, y, w and r. Because it is more sensitive than conventional immunodiffusion or electrosyneresis, and more convenient than radio-immunoassay, haemagglutination inhibition is most suited to large-scale determinations of AuAg subtypes in samples of relatively low antigenic activity.