Method for increasing specificity in competitive immunoassays
AssigneeAbbott Laboratories
InventorsRichard H. Decker, John A. Weare
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention is an improved immunoassay and method for detection of antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc). The improved assay comprises the addition of a reducing agent to decrease the number of false positive reactions in the assay.
Claims9
An immunoassay for detection of anti-hepatitis B core (HBc) antibodies in a biological sample which immunoassay utilizes recombinantly derived Hbc antigen comprising the steps of:
- (a) reacting a solid phase coated with the HBc antigen with the biological sample for a time and under conditions sufficient to form antigen/antibody complexes;
- (b) reacting said complexes with a labeled anti-Hbc antigen antibody;
- (c) detecting the amount of labeled anti-Hbc antigen antibody bound to the solid base;
- wherein the improvement comprises adding a reducing agent to the biological sample prior to performing step (a) or step (b).
An immunoassay for detection of antibodies to hepatitis B core (Hbc) antigen in a biological sample comprising:
- (a) contacting a biological sample with microparticles coated with recombinantly derived Hbc antigen and a reducing agent to form a reaction mixture;
- (b) transferring said reaction mixture to a microparticle capture/flow through filter;
- (c) adding a labeled anti-Hbc antigen antibody to the capture filter and incubating same for a time and under conditions sufficient to form reaction mixture/labeled antibody complexes;
- (d) detecting the label to determine the amount of antibody to the Hbc antigen in the biological sample.
In an immunoassay for detection of anti-hepatitis B core (HBc) antibodies in a biological sample comprising the steps of:
- (a) reacting a solid phase coated with recombinantly produced HBc antigen with the biological sample for a time and under conditions sufficient to form antigen/antibody complexes;
- (b) reacting said complexes with a labeled anti-Hbc antigen antibody;
- (c) detecting the amount of labeled anti-Hbc antigen antibody bound to the solid phase;
- wherein the improvement comprises adding a reducing agent to the biological sample prior to performing step (a) or step (b).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.