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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1974 May; 27(5): 896-900
Copyright © 1974 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Plate Hemolysin Test for the Rapid Screening of Toxoplasma Antibodies

Francis I. Proctor Foundation for Research in Ophthalmology, San Francisco, California 94143
Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143

ABSTRACT

A plate hemolysin test was developed to screen serum specimens for the presence of toxoplasma antibodies. When we tested 130 sera by both this test and the standard toxoplasma dye test, we found the plate hemolysin test to be a rapid, sensitive, and economical method for detecting toxoplasma antibodies. In all but one instance it paralleled the dye test. A comparison of the results of testing six sera by the hemolysin, hemagglutination, and dye-test techniques suggested that the hemolytic antibodies were more closely related to hemagglutinating antibodies than to dye-test antibodies. We could not store sheep erythrocytes sensitized with toxoplasma lysate for more than 3 days without altering the sensitivity of the test. Concanavalin A proved to be an effective coupling agent for binding toxoplasma antigens to red-cell membranes, a quality attributed to its affinity for specific polysaccharide-combining sites.

¹ Present address: Department of Ophthalmology, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal 112, Quebec, Canada.