Neutralizing and Complement Fixing Antibody Response to Adenovirus Infection

The neutralizing and complement fixing antibody response to adenovirus antigens is reported for 53 patients suffering acute respiratory illnesses and having an adenovirus, either type 3, 4 or 7, isolated from their upper respiratory tracts. A complement fixing antibody titer rise of fourfold or greater between the acute and convalescent serum samples was demonstrated for each of the patients. Fifty-one of the patients had fourfold rises in neutralizing antibody against the isolated virus prototype. The two patients failing to show a rise in neutralizing antibodies had present in their acute serum samples neutralizing antibody against the virus type isolated. In addition to neutralizing antibody rises against the homotypic virus antigen, tests with adenovirus types 1 through 10 showed heterotypic rises with each antigen type in from 13 to 44% of the serum pairs. Neutralizing antibodies were found in the acute serum samples frequently with antigen types 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, infrequently with types 4, 7, 8, and 10, and not at all with type 9. No relationship between the presence of antibody in the acute serum and the occurrence of a heterotypic neutralization antibody rise could be demonstrated.