Whole organisms and purified cell walls compared as immunosorbents for the detection of IgE antibodies to Staphylococcus aureus

We have developed an immunoradiometric assay for IgE antibodies to Staphylococcus aureus (Staph IgE-Ab) which uses purified cell walls (PCW) from the Wood 46 strain of S. aureus as an immunosorbent. We compared Wood 46 PCW and whole organisms (WO) as immunosorbents for Staph IgE-Ab by performing tests on sera from patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) or the hyperimmunoglobulin E syndrome (hyper IgE syndrome). Sera with Staph IgE-Ab demonstrated dose-dependent binding to PCW and WO, but the ratio of specific to non-specific binding was much greater with PCW. Mean non-specific binding to WO was greater than to PCW, 5% versus 2%; and non-specific binding to WO varied directly with the serum concentration of IgE. Results of tests on patients' sera indicated that PCW are required in screening assays for Staph IgE-Ab to avoid false positive results caused by high levels of non-specific binding to WO.