Confirmatory immunoassay using microparticle separation
AssigneeAbbott Laboratories
InventorsJames J. Donovan, Robin M. Pennington, Jonathan Staller
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to assays utilizing microparticle separation. More particularly, the invention relates to microparticle assays used for confirmation of ligands in a biological sample.
Claims8
An assay for confirming the presence of a ligand in a biological sample, the sample having been tested previously utilizing a binding substance specific for the ligand and found positive for the ligand, the assay comprising:
- a) contacting the sample with microparticles which have been coated with a binding substance specific for the ligand for a time and under conditions sufficient for the ligand to bind to said microparticles
- b) removing said microparticles which have been coated with a binding substance specific for the ligand from said sample thereby forming a supernatant sample;
- and
- c) retesting said supernatant sample for presence of the ligand to determine if ligand has been removed with the removal of the microparticles, wherein a negative result upon retesting confirms the previous positive assay result.
An assay for confirming the presence of antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen in a biological sample, the sample having been previously tested and found positive for anti-HBc antibody utilizing a binding substance specific for anti-HBc antibody, the assay comprising:
- a) contacting the sample with microparticles which have been coated with hepatitis B core antigen for a time and under conditions sufficient for anti-HBc antibody to bind to said microparticles;
- b) removing said microparticles which have been coated with hepatitis B core antigen from said sample thereby forming a supernatant sample;
- and
- c) retesting said supernatant sample for presence of anti-HBc antibody to determine if anti-HBc antibody has been removed with the removal of the microparticles, wherein a negative result upon retesting confirms the previous positive assay result.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.