Rapid detection of Australia/SH antigen and antibody by a simple and sensitive technique of immunoelectronmicroscopy

A simple and practical method is presented for demonstrating the presence of the Australia/SH antigen and its corresponding antibody in serum specimens, both qualitatively and quantitatively. The method is based on the electronmicroscopic visualization of characteristic aggregates of antigen–antibody complexes formed in the mixture of a serum specimen and the appropriate Australia/SH detector reagent. It involves the use of a microtechnique requiring minute amounts of reagents and provides, as a result of diffusion and filtration through agar gel, partially purified and concentrated preparations, ready for electronmicroscopic examination in less than an hour. The method is highly specific and yields reproducible results. Its sensitivity was found to be greater than that of the crossover electrophoresis test and closely approximates that of the complement fixation test, with the added advantage of not being affected by the "prozone phenomenon." The method can be recommended for use in laboratories equipped with electronmicroscopic facilities to establish a differential diagnosis of viral hepatitis cases, perform rapid screening of blood samples (blood products) for the presence of Australia/SH antigen, and clarify equivocal results obtained by other methods. It is expected that the agar–diffusion–filtration technique will also prove useful, in general, for enhancing the chances of detecting virus particles in suspensions of relatively low virus concentrations.