Serum antibodies (IgG, IgM and IgA) to CIV were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In brief, each well of the microtiter plate was sensitized with 100 µl of 10 µg/ml of human CIV (SIGMA, USA) at room temperature for 3 h, followed by an overnight incubation at 4°C.
The plate was washed with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) containing 0.05% Tween 20 and 1% bovine serum albumin (BSA, SIGMA, USA).
Then, 100 µl serum sample (diluted 1: 10), was placed in each well of a microtiter plate, and incubated for 1 h at 37°C.
After washing three times, 100 µl of immunoconjugates (anti-human immunoglobulin peroxidase conjugates (SIGMA, USA) to heavy chain of IgG, IgM and IgA) were added to each well for 1 h at 37°C. All immunoconjugates were diluted 1: 10,000 with PBS containing 1% BSA and 0.05% Tween 20.
The plate was incubated for 1 h at 37°C. o-Phenylenediamine (0.4 mg/ml) was added to citrate buffer, and 100 µl of this solution was added to each well and allowed to react for 30 min.
The reaction was stopped by adding 50 µl 4 M H2SO4 to each well and the optical density was measured with a Microelisa Reader 210 (Organon Teknika, Belgium) at a wavelength of 492 nm.