Impact of Complement and Difference of Cell-Based Assay and ELISA in Determination of Neutralization Capacity Against Mumps and Measles Virus

Neutralizing antibodies against mumps and measles virus are considered a correlate of protection against these diseases. Measurement of neutralizing antibodies is mostly performed using plaque reduction neutralization assay or 50% cell culture infective dose (CCID50) neutralization assay, but there are attempts for measuring neutralizing antibodies using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) which is simpler, but the literature data regarding its convenience are diverse. The role of complement and antibodies in neutralizing capacity of sera is not completely defined. Here, CCID50 neutralization assay and ELISA were used to determine the neutralization capacity against mumps and measles virus in human sera and therapeutic immunoglobulins (IVIGs). Results showed no correlation of neutralization titers obtained by CCID50 neutralization assay and IgG content obtained by ELISA for mumps or measles in human sera. Data showed some neutralization activity against measles virus and quite high against mumps virus of naïve guinea pig serum and that its addition increases neutralization capacity of IVIG and human sera against mumps and measles viruses. Heat inactivation of human sera reduced neutralization capacity against measles to small extent, and substantially against mumps virus. There is a significant impact of complement in measurement of neutralization capacity against mumps virus.