Immunology Testing Flashcards
1
Q
What are the 2 immunological test functions?
A
- Detection of specific antibodies in serum
- Detection of antigen in body fluids or tissues using antibodies
2
Q
What are the 3 different type of immunological tests?
A
- Agglutination
- ELISA
- Lateral flow test (LFT)
3
Q
What is an agglutination test used for?
A
- Blood typing
- autoAb to erythrocytes
4
Q
What is ELISA and LFT tests used for?
A
- Pathogen Ab to Ag, autoAb
5
Q
What is auto-immune haemolytic anaemia?
A
- May develop autoantibodies to their own RBC
6
Q
What does auto-immune haemolytic anaemia cause?
A
- Antibodies may cause RBCc to burst causing haemoglobin in plasma and urine to be present
- Antibodies can cause agglutination and shorten RBC lifespan
7
Q
What test can be done to look for auto0immune haemolytic anaemia?
A
- Slide saline agglutination test
8
Q
Why may patients break down transfused RBC?
A
- Induced Ab: develop after 1st transfusion and attack on 2nd transfusion
- Naturally occuring Ab: develop before trasnfusion and attack on 1st trasnfusion
9
Q
What are the blood groups in dogs?
A
- DEA positive or DEA negative
- Dogs produce antibodies to DEA only after transfusion
- If DEA positive, they have no antibodies and they can receive blood from any dog
10
Q
What are the blood groups in cats?
A
- A, B, or AB
- Cats produce antibodies even if they have never had a transfusion
11
Q
What are the limitations of antibody detection?
A
- Antibodies may persist after infection is cleared
- Lag phase before Ab produced, so may need to retest
- Vaccine may produce Ab
- Maternally derived Ab
Immunmosuppression may reduce the antibody response
12
Q
What are the limitations of antigen detection?
A
- Agent may only be detected in blood/faeces/sputum once reached high levels
- Agent may only be present in blood/faeces/sputum intermittently
- Attenuated organism given as a vaccine may give false positive
- Presence of agent not always associated with disease
