Immunology: Common Lab Tests Flashcards
What do immunologic tests look for?
Specific infectious agents
Evaluate sensitivity & specificity
Sensitivity
-Able to correctly identify all animals that are truly positive for a give reaction procedure
-How much of the antigen or antibody needs to be present before the color change
How sensitive is the test
Specificity
Measures the number of false positives produced with a given reaction procedure
Can I determine exactly which protein this is?
Is there any cross reaction with a similar antigen?
Which test has 100% sensitivity & 100% specificity?
No test exists
What does the heartworm antigen test need to become positive?
A minimum of 3 adult female worms
What sample do nearly all immunologic tests require?
Serum or plasma
What sample should not be sent to the diagnostic lab?
Whole blood
What route of collection is preferred?
Vacutainer to prevent hemolysis
Red top if serum
Lavender top if plasma unless otherwise noted
Who has strict requirements and what must be done carefully and followed
The reference laboratories
The directions
How should serologic samples be handled?
Clot for 20 to 30 minutes at room tep
How long do you centrifuge serum samples for?
10 minutes at 1500 rpms or greater
What sample do you centrifuge immediately after collection?
Plasma
What do you pipette?
Serum or plasma into a transfer tube and label
Can you freeze the serum or plasma samples?
Yes or refrigerate
What is humoral immunity?
Antigen/antibody complexes
What are the tests that look for antigen/antibody complexes (humoral immunity)
ELISA
CELISA
Latex Agglutination
Rapid Immunomigration & Immunochromatography
ELISA
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay