Detection of enterovirus‐specific total and polymeric IgA antibodies in serum using a synthetic peptide or heated virion antigen in ELISA

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Abstract
The presence of enterovirus‐specific total and polymeric IgA antibodies was assessed in serum from different groups of patients and healthy controls by indirect ELISA using heated virions and synthetic peptide, both enteroviral broad reactive antigens.Total IgA antibody response against a synthetic peptide, representing an enterovirus group‐common epitope, was detected in 52% of the patients with an acute enterovirus infection and in 12% of the patients with other infections (P = 0.02). We also found a significant difference (P = 0.005) in the prevalence of peptide IgA antibodies between serum samples collected from blood donors during summer (20%), the prevalent season of enterovirus infections, and winter (6%). A polymeric IgA activity against the peptide was detected in only three patients with an enterovirus infection.In contrast, when a heated coxsackie B5 (coxB5) virus antigen was used, the prevalence of total serum IgA antibodies was not significantly different between patients with an acute enterovirus infection and patients with other infections (71 % vs. 53% respectively; P = 0.3). Also no difference was found between the two groups of blood donors (47% in summer vs. 51% in winter; P = 0.7). However, the prevalence of serum polymeric IgA antibodies against coxsackie B5 antigen was significantly greater (P = 0.02) in patients with an acute enterovirus infection (57%) than in patients with other infections (18%). These findings suggest that the presence of total peptide‐IgA or of polymeric coxsackie B5‐IgA in serum is a specific marker of acute enterovirus infection.Finally, we show that the total peptide‐IgA‐and polymeric coxsackie B5‐ELISAs may have a diagnostic value for the serodiagnosis of enterovirus infections when they are used in combination with enteroviral IgG‐ELISA.