Application of QuantiFERON ELISA for Detection of Interferon-Gamma Autoantibodies in Adult-Onset Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Objective Patients who develop interferon-gamma autoantibodies (IFN-ɤ autoAbs) in adult-onset immunodeficiency (AOID) syndrome are more likely to develop opportunistic and recurrent intracellular infections. The assay to detect IFN-ɤ autoAbs is essential for the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of AOID syndrome. Therefore, this study applied the QuantiFERON assay for the detection of IFN-ɤ autoAbs. Methods Serum from patients with AOID syndrome (n = 19) and serum from healthy patients (n = 20) was collected and applied using 2 neutralizing platforms of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits (the BD ELISA and the QuantiFERON ELISA) for IFN-ɤ autoAbs detection. Results The pooled serum from patients with AOID syndrome showed >50% inhibition at 1:5000 dilution (positive), whereas the pooled serum from healthy patients showed 1:5,000,000 according to the neutralizing QuantiFERON ELISA. Conclusion The QuantiFERON ELISA kit could be applied for the detection of IFN-ɤ autoAbs for the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of AOID syndrome.