An Immunological Assay is a process which helps in the determination of the antibodies and specific antigens required for a particular disease or medical condition. These antibodies are known as T-cells which are required to fight against diseases. Therefore an Immunological Assay is very essential in order to determine the level of the immune system as well as the effectiveness of the medication. It is also essential for the diagnosis of allergies and autoimmunity.
The main ingredients of an immunological assay include IgG, Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA, EIA), IgM and CD. The most common of these is the IgG or IgA test which is done with cells taken from the sera. In the case of the IgG test the cells which are taken from sera are differentiated against antigens present in an antigens panel. The other two are more sensitive in their nature and thus require specific probes for the reaction.
There are many factors which influence the performance of an Immunological Assay. These include the culture conditions, the type of cells used and the availability of the specific antigens required for the reaction. In the case of the IgG test, for instance, the frequency of infection by T-cells determines the level of antibody-antigen interactions and this is reflected by the antibody binding capacity measured by the probe selected. Likewise, in the case of the EIA test the intensity of the antigen measured by radio immunoassay is proportional to the intensity of the titer developed by the ELISA. The role of culture conditions and the availability of specific antigens required for the reaction is determined by the method of use and the sensitivity of the various probes tested.
The results obtained by using different assays for the same analyte can be compared to identify the best performance settings. When the appropriate assays are applied for detecting and comparing two identical samples e.g., monosodiumglutamate (MSG) and polysomucose (PMS) a comparison between the results obtained with different assays is useful. The most sensitive tests are those based on the mouse and human serum antibodies because these provide the highest level of diagnostic accuracy.
The reagents used for immunology assays are generally in the form of diluted solutions. The term’reagent’ is often used as a generic term and is used to describe any solution that contains a specified mixture of ingredients. The composition of the reagent is dependent upon the function of the assay required. The most commonly used reagents are the standard reagents which are usually in a range of 10 percent to 100 percent purity. Other sensitizing reagents have lower levels of purity but still function effectively when specific mixtures are required. Examples of these reagents are the ELISA reagents and the challenge-immune complex (CRC) reagents.
In the field of immunology, the term monoclonal antibodies is commonly used to describe high-actinidilization assays and low-actinidilization assays. Monoclonal antibodies bind to a specific micro-pigmentation stain and initiate a reaction which is often specific to a single protein or to a set of proteins depending on the type of stain. Monoclonal antibodies are frequently used in clinical immunology, e.g., the test for antibodies against important diseases such as HIV and hepatitis. These antibodies can also be used for detecting the presence of a non-nucleated secondary structure.
Antibody assays are made by adding a specific cross-reacting antigens to a solid culture of cells or tissues or to a virus. When the antigens bind to the target antigen, a release of particular antibody chains is formed. The binding of these antibody chains produces an antibody which will bind to the specific antigen. These assays are sometimes used in medical research and are the basis of many laboratory tests for diagnosing disease. These assays are made by adding a virus to a cell culture medium which then releases various high affinity antibodies which are then bound to the virus.
For immunofluorescence, fluorescently expressed antibodies are used. Fluorescently expressed antibodies bind to the targeted antigen and produce free radicals when the antigen is scratched by a needle. The release of free radicals is detected by a technique called lateral flow immunoassays. This method is commonly used in immunofluorescence experiments in which target proteins are stained with fluorescently expressed antibodies.