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An immunoenzymatic serum fingerprinting method was developed to establish a serum sample fingerprint based on IgG titers obtained with three different antigens. Three widely expressed antigens were selected for their capacity to induce long-lasting humoral immune responses. This fingerprinting method may be used to differentiate between two serum samples and to determine whether they come from the same primary blood specimen. The method showed a specificity of 99.5%. This method is suitable as a quality control method for biobanked serum samples.

A case-control study was conducted to determine the diagnostic value of Chlamydia trachomatis-associated anti-Chsp10 and/or anti-Chsp60 antibodies in the detection of secondary infertility. There were significant associations between C. trachomatis infection and infertility (p<0.01), and between C. trachomatis-specific anti-Chsp10 or anti-Chsp60 antibodies and secondary infertility (p<0.001). A significant correlation was found between anti-Chsp10 and anti-Chsp60 titers (p<0.01). The detection of either C. trachomatis-associated anti-Chsp10 or anti-Chsp60 antibodies cumulatively allowed specific diagnosis of secondary infertility (57.4% sensitivity, 75.5% specificity).

A multicenter prospective study was performed on 160 asthmatic adults suffering from acute episodes of bronchitis and 88 non-asthmatic controls, to investigate potential associations among Chlamydia pneumoniae infection and/or anti-C. pneumoniae heat shock protein 10 antibodies, and asthma. We used micro-immunofluorescence to detect serum anti-C. pneumoniae IgG, IgA and IgM antibodies and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect serum anti-Chsp10 peptide IgG antibodies. The serological prevalence of C. pneumoniae was 73.1%. An association was observed between the presence of anti-Chsp10 antibodies and adult onset asthma. The humoral immune responses were not confined to any particular region of the Chsp10 protein.

The humoral immune response to Chlamydia trachomatis 10-kDa heat shock protein (Chsp10) in populations of Russian and French origin was studied by using a recombinant Chsp10 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A physiological but not a serological correlation of Chsp10 exposure with Chsp60 exposure was observed in the Russian population. In the French population studied, there was a significant association between detection of anti-r-Chsp10 immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies and chronic genital tract infections. Chsp10 residues 50 to 67 were found to contain an immunodominant although not universal B epitope. Cross-reactions with Chlamydia pneumoniae or Escherichia coli GroES protein are limited but may occur. Our study suggests that detection of anti-Chsp10 IgG antibodies is associated with chronicity of C. trachomatis genital tract infection and does not parallel that of anti-Chsp60 IgG antibodies.