What does heterophile antibody test for?

What does heterophile antibody test for?

Heterophile antibody tests are rapid, cheap and specific tests that can be performed from the onset of symptoms of infectious mononucleosis. In adolescents, heterophile antibody tests have high specificity and sensitivity in the diagnosis of primary acute EBV infection.

What is heterophile agglutination test?

In the heterophile test, human blood is first absorbed by a guinea pig kidney. Then, it is tested for agglutination activity that is directed against horse, sheep, or cow erythrocytes. Successive dilutions yield a titer; a titer of 40 or greater is considered a positive test.

What disease is associated with Heterophile antibodies?

In clinical diagnosis, the heterophile antibody test specifically refers to a rapid test for antibodies produced against the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the causative agent of infectious mononucleosis.

What kind of test results can Heterophile antibodies cause?

Heterophile antibodies may affect a wide array of laboratory tests, resulting in false elevation of tumour markers, endocrine tests, cardiac injury markers and drug levels (Table 1).

How are Heterophile antibodies diagnosed?

Process. The test is usually performed using commercially available test kits which detect the reaction of heterophile antibodies in a person’s blood sample with horse or cow red blood cell antigens. These test kits work on the principles of latex agglutination or immunochromatography.

What are the characteristics of Heterophile antibodies?

Heterophile antibodies are antibodies produced against poorly defined antigens. These are generally weak antibodies with multispecific activities. Human anti-animal antibodies that develop as a result of treatments with animal immunoglobulins are antibodies with strong avidities, produced against well-defined antigens.

What are the characteristics of heterophile antibodies?

What is heterophile?

Definition of heterophile : of, relating to, or being an antibody circulating in blood serum that is reactive with antigen originating in a different species.

What are Heterophile antibodies and how are they formed?

Is the monospot test the same as the Heterophile test?

The mononuclear spot test or monospot test, a form of the heterophile antibody test, is a rapid test for infectious mononucleosis due to Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). It is an improvement on the Paul–Bunnell test.

Is the Monospot test the same as the Heterophile test?

How do you get Heterophile antibodies?

Heterophilic antibodies may arise in a patient in response to exposure to certain animals or animal products or due to infection by bacterial or viral agents, or non-specifically.

How long does a Heterophile antibody test take?

Using this method, the test can be performed by individuals without specialized training, and the results may be available in as little as five minutes. Manual versions of the test rely on the agglutination of horse erythrocytes by heterophile antibodies in patient serum.

How do you get heterophile antibodies?