CLINICAL APPLICATION OF THE PASSIVE HEMAGGLUTINATION TEST FOR THE TITRATION OF TETANUS ANTITOXIN

Abstract
An improved technique was previously described for titration of tetanus antitoxin by passive hemagglutination (HA). Serum specimens of immunized guinea pigs were determined for tetanus antitoxin by the HA and the conventional toxin-neutralization (TN) tests. Non-specific reactions of the HA test were eliminated greatly by the use of a highly purified tetanus toxoid as the sensitizing antigen and by improving technical details of the HA test. The magnitude of the ratio of HA to TN titers was dependent on the stage of immunization. It became possible to estimate the in vivo titers of tetanus antitoxin from HA titers with an accuracy high enough for practical use by adopting the improved technique and by taking the immunization period into account. It was of interest to investigate the correlation between the 2 values of human antitoxin. Many specimens of human sera taken at various periods after immunization with tetanus toxoid. The titer of tetanus antitoxin was determined by HA and TN tests. Ha could be used in place of TN for the titration of serum specimens after booster injection. The titers, as determined by the 2 different methods, agreed fairly well when the errors inherent to both tests were considered. No single immunoglobulin class was responsible for the discrepancies between HA and TN titers.

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