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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, February 2003, p. 671-674, Vol. 41, No. 2
0095-1137/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.41.2.671-674.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Longitudinal Reliability of Focus Glycoprotein G-Based Type-Specific Enzyme Immunoassays for Detection of Herpes Simplex Virus Types 1 and 2 in Women

Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease,¹ Magee-Womens Research Institute,² Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,⁴ Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington³

Received 19 July 2002/ Returned for modification 3 October 2002/ Accepted 12 November 2002

Serologic assays that utilize herpes simplex virus (HSV) type-specific glycoproteins G-1 (HSV-1) and G-2 (HSV-2) to discriminate between antibodies against HSV-1 and HSV-2 are sensitive and specific. However, the high rates of seroreversion, defined as the change in an individual's antibody status from positive to negative over time, previously reported in longitudinal evaluations of glycoprotein G type-specific tests suggests that their use in HSV acquisitional studies would be problematic. To further explore the reliability of the glycoprotein G-based serologic tests, we evaluated HSV-1 and HSV-2 enzyme immunoassays from Focus Technologies in a longitudinal cohort of 1,207 young women from Pittsburgh, Pa. On enrollment of the women in the study, HSV-1 and HSV-2 antibodies were detected in 46.6 and 24.9% of the women, respectively. Among the women with at least three visits, 3.4% (15 of 447) of those who were HSV-1 antibody positive had a subsequent negative result while fewer than 1% (2 of 227) of those who were HSV-2 antibody positive seroreverted. The median of mean positive index values for women who seroreverted to HSV-1 antibody was lower than that for women who remained seropositive (1.25 versus 7.06; P < 0.001). Similarly, the median of mean positive index values for women whose HSV-2 antibody status reverted from positive to negative was lower than that for those women who did not serorevert (1.83 versus 7.46; P = 0.02). Comparative Western blot analysis demonstrated that the lower positive index values, seen more often among the HSV seroreverters, often signified false-positive immunoassay results. Overall, the seroreversion rates were low; the use of glycoprotein G-based serologic tests for the measurement of HSV-1 and HSV-2 antibodies in incidence studies therefore appears warranted.

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