Serological Diagnosis of Gonorrhea

An antigen specific for Neisseria gonorrhoeae was extracted with a surfactant from T-1 phase cells of strain F-62; this antigen was purified partially by fractional ethanolic precipitation and centrifugation. The anitgen was characterized as a low molecular weight glycoprotein. With a c(14)-labeled preparation of this gonococcal antigen, a radioimmunoassay was developed the serodiagnosis of gonorrhea. When 382 human sera from acutely infected and well documented negative control subjects were assayed by this procedure, 90% were diagnosed correctly, 5% were diagnosed incorrectly, and 5% of the results were indecisive. The assay procedure was modified in that the antigen was labeled with a more easily quantifiable isotope, 125I. In this latter system, 77% of the sera were diagnosed correctly, 13% were false positive or negative, and 10% of the results were indecisive. (Author)