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Articles |
Antibody to Escherichia coli Produces False-Positive Results in Multiple Immunometric Assays
Divisions of
1
Laboratory Medicine and
2
Surgical Pathology, Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110.
a Author for correspondence. Fax 314-362-1461; e-mail mscott{at}labmed.wustl.edu
| Abstract |
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Methods: Following Escherichia coli septicemia, a
56-year-old male patient had increased immunoassay results for cardiac
troponin I, thyrotropin, human chorionic gonadotropin,
-fetoprotein, and CA-125 that were consistent with myocardial
infarction, hyperthyroidism, and pregnancy, and suggestive of an occult
neoplasm such as hepatic or ovarian cancer. None of these diagnoses
were consistent with the rest of his medical exam. In addition, the
patient had a restricted IgM
paraprotein by immunofixation. Plasma
from the patient was incubated with Sepharose-conjugated protein A,
irrelevant murine monoclonal antibodies, and formalin-killed E.
coli organisms from his infection to determine whether these
immunoassay values were falsely increased.
Results: Incubation of the patients plasma with
irrelevant murine monoclonal antibodies or the E. coli
organism produced normal immunoassay values and removed the IgM
paraprotein.
Conclusions: The patient produced a very restricted IgM
antibody response to the E. coli infection that had
anti-immunoglobulin activity and caused falsely increased values in
numerous immunometric assays. Microorganism-induced anti-immunoglobulin
antibodies are discussed in the context of this patient.
| Introduction |
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The incidence of HAMAs in the general population has been estimated to be as low as 0.7% (8) and as high as 10% (9). Nevertheless, even the lowest estimate is too high to be accounted for by individuals receiving parenteral administration of murine mAb products. One possibility to account for the relatively high incidence of interfering antibodies is heterophilic antibodies. Heterophilic antibodies are antibodies that bind multiple antigens as represented by the IgM antibody against the Paul-Bunnell antigen on sheep, horse, and bovine erythrocytes that frequently develop in immune responses to the Epstein-Barr virus. Among antibodies that bind multiple antigens are those that are the product of germ-line VH and VL genes that react with self-immunoglobulin and play an important role in the development of the mature immune system (10)(11). Related to these are rheumatoid factors, which are IgM anti-immunoglobulin antibodies and often present in serum at detectable concentrations in patients with autoimmune diseases (12). Recently, rheumatoid factor antibodies were clearly demonstrated to interfere in a cardiac troponin I (cTnI) sandwich immunoassay from Abbott (13)(14). Because such antibodies are relatively common in the elderly and in patients with autoimmune disease, it is possible that heterophilic antibodies may account for many instances of interference in immunometric assays. Finally, similar heterophilic antibodies that react with immunoglobulin may also result from antibodies raised against microbial antigens (15).
The awareness of HAMA interference has led manufacturers to indicate the possibility of HAMA interference in their package inserts and to add blocking reagents to immunometric assays along with the use of Fab fragments (16). These reagents contain irrelevant antibodies of the same species used in the assay configuration. Nevertheless, occasional patients will exhibit an interference that is difficult to explain. For example, serum from the rheumatoid factor patients studied by Dasgupta et al. (13) did not interfere in an assay for creatine kinase MB isoenzyme (CK-MB) on the same instrument as the cTnI assay. Presumably this is attributable to different blocking reagents in different assay configurations or possibly to an idiotype specificity of the interfering antibodies (17). Alternatively, the amount of blocking reagent may not always be sufficient to prevent cross-linking, or the heterophilic antibody may react with other, non-immunoglobulin, components of the assay. Here we describe the cause of an interfering antibody that affected numerous immunometric assays from a patient never exposed to murine antibodies but who was diagnosed as having an Escherichia coli septicemia.
| Materials and Methods |
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-fetoprotein, thyrotropin, human chorionic
gonadotropin, CA-125, luteinizing hormone, ferritin, and
follicle-stimulating hormone were performed on the Abbott AxSYM.
The assay for prostate-specific antigen was performed on the
Beckman/Hybritech ERA, and the assay for parathyroid hormone was
performed on the DPC IMMULITE. Serum protein electrophoresis and
immunofixation were performed using the Beckman Paragon system. All
assays were performed according to the manufacturers recommended
procedures.
Immunologic reagents
Protein A-Sepharose was purchased from Pharmacia. Mouse
IgG1 monoclonal antibodies to the parathyroid hormone receptor (mAbs
3D1.1 and 5G3.1) were prepared by one of us (M.G.S.), and the mouse
IgG1 mAb to cTnI was kindly provided by Dr. Jack Ladenson, Washington
University, St. Louis, MO (18). The mAbs were coupled
to CNBr-activated Sepharose 4B (Pharmacia) and washed extensively with
phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), pH 7.4, containing 10 g/L bovine serum
albumin before use.
Bacterial cultures
E. coli isolated from the patient in question, from an
isolate of another patient, and from the ATCC strain 25952 was cultured
in tryptic soy broth for 1618 h. The organisms were then centrifuged,
washed in PBS, and then formalin killed and fixed as described
previously (19). The fixed organisms were washed in PBS and
then resuspended in PBS containing 10 g/L bovine serum albumin at
~5 x 109 organisms/mL.
Patient serum and plasma
All dilutions of the patient plasma samples were prepared using a
10 g/L solution of bovine serum albumin in PBS. Plasma or serum from
the patient was incubated with protein A-conjugated Sepharose 4B,
murine mAb-conjugated Sepharose, or unconjugated Sepharose. Briefly,
600 µL of undiluted sample or 600 µL of sample prediluted 1:5 was
added to a 400-µL pellet of conjugated or unconjugated Sepharose and
incubated with rotation at room temperature for 1618 h. A 500-µL
undiluted serum or plasma sample was also mixed with a 200-µL pellet
(~109 organisms) of each of the E.
coli isolates as described previously (19) and
incubated as above.
| Results |
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Values from other immunometric assays
To investigate the possibility of an interference in the RxL cTnI
assay, CK-MB and myoglobin assays were performed on the Dade Dimension
RxL and on the Dade Stratus analyzers. Interestingly, all values
(including cTnI) from the Stratus, as well as the CK-MB and myoglobin
assays on the Dimension RxL, were below the limit of assay detection.
These results were immediately transmitted to the patients physician
with our suspicion that the cTnI values were falsely increased. Because
of our suspicion of interference in some immunometric assays, we
examined every immunometric assay in our laboratory to see how general
the interference might be. Most striking were the markedly increased
values obtained for human chorionic gonadotropin, CA-125, thyrotropin,
and
-fetoprotein on the Abbott AxSYM system (Table 1
). Values for carcinoembryonic antigen, luteinizing hormone,
follicle-stimulating hormone, ferritin, prostate-specific antigen, and
parathyroid hormone were within the reference ranges and unlikely to
represent falsely increased values (data not shown).
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Adsorption studies
To further elucidate the cause of the apparent interference in
these immunometric assays, the patients sample was incubated with
protein A-Sepharose, murine mAb-conjugated Sepharose, or unconjugated
Sepharose. Incubation with protein A-Sepharose had no effect on the
interference exhibited in the cTnI assay (Table 1
). In contrast,
incubation with any of three murine mAbs conjugated to Sepharose
produced marked diminution or elimination of the interference,
suggesting that the interference was caused by HAMAs. The lack of
effect from protein A adsorption suggested that the HAMA activity was
attributable to an IgM antibody, and because of the patients recent
E. coli septicemia, we speculated that the IgM HAMA activity
may have been induced by the organism. Therefore, the patients sample
was incubated with formalin-killed E. coli from three
sources. All of the interferences were either eliminated or markedly
diminished after adsorption to the E. coli isolate from the
patient but not after adsorption to an E. coli isolate from
another patient or ATCC strain 25952 (Table 1
). Taken together, the
antibodies this patient raised to E. coli clearly had HAMA
activity and were causing the interference in these immunometric
assays. In a follow-up visit 30 days after his hospitalization, the
interference had markedly waned such that the falsely increased
"cTnI" value from the RxL analyzer was 22 µg/L, which is
consistent with the half-life of IgM.
Serum protein electrophoresis
Because antibodies to bacterial capsular carbohydrates (CHOs)
often are very restricted in their V-region heterogeneity
(19)(20)(21)(22) and because of the apparent magnitude of this
response, we performed serum protein electrophoresis. Serum protein
electrophoresis demonstrated an abnormal restricted peak in the
region (not shown). Immunofixation revealed that the restricted peak
was IgM
(Fig. 1
, top panel). The restricted peak was eliminated when the
patients serum was incubated with either his E. coli
isolate (Fig. 1
, middle panel) or murine mAb (not shown) conjugated
with Sepharose, whereas protein A-Sepharose did not eliminate the
restricted peak (Fig. 1
, bottom panel). Incubation of the patients
serum with the other two, irrelevant E. coli isolates also
had no effect on the restricted peak (not shown). Thirty days after
hospitalization, the restricted IgM
peak was no longer detectable
by serum protein electrophoresis or immunofixation.
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| Discussion |
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antibody response the patient mounted to his
E. coli infection. The patients antibody response to
E. coli was very restricted as evidenced by the IgM
peak
by serum protein electrophoresis and immunofixation. We suspect that
that this antibody with HAMA activity is against the CHOs of the
organism for several reasons: (a) It is well-known that the
antibody repertoire to CHO antigens is very restricted in both humans
and in mice (20)(21)(22). (b) There is considerable
heterogeneity in the CHOs of different strains of gram-negative
bacteria, and antibodies to bacterial CHO antigens often exhibit fine
specificity that can differentiate subtle differences in CHO structure
(19)(20). Thus, if these antibodies were against
membrane proteins of E coli, it is likely that the IgM
restricted peak and the interferences present in the immunometric
assays would also have been eliminated by the other two isolates of
E. coli tested. (c) Antibodies to bacterial CHOs,
such as E. coli K100 and Haemophilus influenzae
type b, are known to frequently use the same V region genes that are
present in human antibodies with autoimmune activity, including some
rheumatoid factors (23)(24). (d) The
mechanism of microorganism-induced anti-immunoglobulin antibodies is
believed to be attributable to highly repetitive epitopes
(25). Clearly, this patients anti-E. coli
antibody also had anti-immunoglobulin activity as evidenced by the
interference that was eliminated by adsorption to murine mAb-conjugated
Sepharose. It is also possible that the heterophilic nature of this
antibody allowed binding of other CHO epitopes on assay components in
addition to the anti-immunoglobulin activity.
The restricted expression of a set of VH and VL genes in the response
to bacterial CHO antigens in autoimmune antibodies and in the
developing human antibody repertoire has led to the hypothesis that
autoantibody-producing B cells may be stimulated by exposure to
microorganisms (15)(25)(26). Early
in the development of the antibody repertoire, a restricted set of V
genes that have self-immunoglobulin reactivity are preferentially
expressed (10)(12)(27), and
these germline V genes often are expressed in murine and human
antibacterial responses (22)(23). Although we do
not have sufficient sample from this patient to sequence the VH gene of
his anti-E. coli antibody with HAMA activity, we would
predict that it would be the product of one of these dominant,
early-expressed VH genes. Also of interest is that among some VH3
anti-CHO antibodies in humans, those expressing a
light chain have
broader fine specificity than those containing a germline
L-chain
product, which may explain the heterophilic nature of this patients
antibody to E. coli (21).
The antibody from this patient clearly demonstrates that a restricted anti-E. coli antibody can have HAMA activity and also produce marked interference in several commercial immunometric assays. Aside from the obvious induction of HAMAs by administration of murine mAb products, this represents the first definitive etiology of an interfering heterophilic antibody that causes marked positive interference in diagnostic immunometric assays. Further studies will be necessary to determine whether other patients with antibacterial CHO responses express similar interfering activities and whether suspicion of interferences in immunometric assays should be heightened in patients with recent infections with gram-negative organisms. This case demonstrates the importance of both clinicians and laboratorians being aware of the possibility of falsely increased values from these types of assays despite the continuing efforts of manufacturers to add blocking reagents to overcome these interferences. It may also provide a clue for the best "recipe" for a blocking reagent because both manufacturers whose assays were affected by this antibody produce other assays that were not affected.
| Footnotes |
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| References |
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The following articles in journals at HighWire Press have cited this article:
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M P Brugts, J G L M Luermans, E G W M Lentjes, N J van Trooyen-van Vrouwerff, F A L van der Horst, P H T. J Slee, S W J Lamberts, and J A M L Janssen Heterophilic antibodies may be a cause of falsely low total IGF1 levels Eur. J. Endocrinol., October 1, 2009; 161(4): 561 - 565. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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B E Fritz, R J Hauke, and D F Stickle New onset of heterophilic antibody interference in prostate-specific antigen measurement occurring during the period of post-prostatectomy prostate-specific antigen monitoring Ann Clin Biochem, May 1, 2009; 46(3): 253 - 256. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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A. A.A. Ismail A Radical Approach Is Needed to Eliminate Interference from Endogenous Antibodies in Immunoassays Clin. Chem., January 1, 2005; 51(1): 25 - 26. [Full Text] [PDF] |
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C. Roongsritong, I. Warraich, and C. Bradley Common Causes of Troponin Elevations in the Absence of Acute Myocardial Infarction: Incidence and Clinical Significance Chest, May 1, 2004; 125(5): 1877 - 1884. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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R. Sapin, A. Agin, and F. Gasser Misleading High Thyrotropin Results Obtained with a Two-Site Immunometric Assay Involving a Chimeric Antibody Clin. Chem., May 1, 2004; 50(5): 946 - 948. [Full Text] [PDF] |
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C. M. Preissner, D. J. O'Kane, R. J. Singh, J. C. Morris, and S. K. G. Grebe Phantoms in the Assay Tube: Heterophile Antibody Interferences in Serum Thyroglobulin Assays J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., July 1, 2003; 88(7): 3069 - 3074. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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F. Flourie, F. Parant, M. C. Penes, and D. Alcaraz-Galvain Falsely Increased Thyroid-stimulating Hormone Concentrations attributable to Interference from Human Anti-mouse Antibodies Clin. Chem., December 1, 2002; 48(12): 2289 - 2289. [Full Text] [PDF] |
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A. A.A. Ismail, P. L. Walker, J. H. Barth, K. C. Lewandowski, R. Jones, and W. A. Burr Wrong Biochemistry Results: Two Case Reports and Observational Study in 5310 Patients on Potentially Misleading Thyroid-stimulating Hormone and Gonadotropin Immunoassay Results Clin. Chem., November 1, 2002; 48(11): 2023 - 2029. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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W. J. Kim, O. F. Laterza, K. G. Hock, J. F. Pierson-Perry, D. M. Kaminski, M. Mesguich, F. Braconnier, R. Zimmermann, M. Zaninotto, M. Plebani, et al. Performance of a Revised Cardiac Troponin Method That Minimizes Interferences from Heterophilic Antibodies Clin. Chem., July 1, 2002; 48(7): 1028 - 1034. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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A. A. Ismail and J. H Barth Wrong biochemistry results BMJ, September 29, 2001; 323(7315): 705 - 706. [Full Text] [PDF] |
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L. J. Kricka Interferences in Immunoassay--Still a Threat Clin. Chem., August 1, 2000; 46(8): 1037 - 1038. [Full Text] [PDF] |
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