Question about Western Blot

[Erin]

I was reading my test results again, and started to wonder...what does the 1:40 mean? (my results said "1:40 indeterminate" I think it's a ratio of some kind, but I dont quite understand what it is...(if it's math related, I probably wont understand it. Math and I dont get along real well)

Can anyone explain it to me?

[Sonsie]

Can anyone explain it to me?
I cannot. :( But you might start here:

http://www.betterhealthguy.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54&Itemid=76

and

http://www.canlyme.com/wb.html

[RuthHinWV]

Hi Erin, I had the same numbers on my tests & couldn't tell you at all what it means. However; I did find the following, but I still really don't understand it. I'll post so you can read, but I'd say your best bet is call Igenex. Ruth

http://www.igenex.com/tickset1.htm

Diagnostic Tests for Babesiosis

Overview

Detection of Babesia IgM and IgG Antibodies in Serum by the Indirect Immunofluorescent Antibody Assay (IFA)

This immunofluorescent assay (IFA) indirectly detects Babesia-specific IgG or IgM antibodies in patient serum. Red blood cells from Syrian hamsters, infected with Babesia parasites, are fixed on a glass slide. Patient serum is added, and the patient's B. microti-specific IgG or IgM antibodies bind to the parasites in the infected red blood cells. In the third step, a labeled anti-human antibody is added. Fluorescence occurs if Babesia-specific antibodies are present. The slides must be read with a fluorescent microscope.

Interpretation

Assays for Babesia are usually performed using IFA against cells containing the organism. For the IFA, patient serum is titered using doubling dilutions. These dilutions start at 1:8 or 1:10. Thus, an assay starting at 1:8 would have values at 1:16, 1:32, 1:64, 1:128, 1:256, 1:512, 1:1024, etc., and an assay starting at 10 would have values at 1:20, 1:40, 1:80, 1:160, 1:320, 1:640; 1:1280, etc.

Cut-off ranges between a laboratory negative and a laboratory positive sample are comparable for most clinical laboratories. The laboratory positive must be statistically different (mean +/- 2SD) from the negative sample. This does not imply that a titer of 1:40 or 1:80 is clinically significant. In fact, a positive antibody test by itself implies nothing. However, a positive antibody test, with appropriate clinical symptoms (determined by a physician), can lead to a diagnosis.

Positive Babesiosis titers are generally 1:160 or higher. Early in disease the titers may rise 4-fold to 1:1280. Later in disease the titer falls. For this reason, the testing of paired samples 4 to 6 weeks apart improves the diagnostic efficiency.

Diagnosis based on antibody response requires the seroconversion of infected individuals toward production of anti-Babesia antibodies. Unfortunately, this approach does not always work because:

* At the height of Babesiosis (within weeks of the initial bite) a patient with fever may fail to have evidence of antibody.
* Antibodies often persist long after the symptoms have disappeared.
* Polyclonal antibody-based tests lack specificity.

Nucleic Acid Based Diagnostic Tests (PCR and FISH) For Babesiosis

Nucleic acid based diagnostic tests impart enhanced performance, when compared to currently available microbiological and immunological methods for the detection of parasites in test samples. Some of the advantages are:

* Increased sensitivity: The nucleic acid based tests are able to detect a specific parasite in a given sample more frequently.
* Increased specificity: Accurate identification of biochemically unusual strains of Babesia, and those with dramatically different outer membrane proteins, is possible.
* These are direct assays for the presence of the parasite and have the consequent potential to identify the etiological agent.
* The assay is independent of the host's immune response schedule. Therefore, much earlier detection of the parasite is possible.
* Direct testing allows the monitoring of the efficacy of an antibiotic regime.
* There is the potential to detect the etiological agent in samples of tissue normally low in antibody titers (such as skin).

IGeneX has developed two nucleic acid based assays for the direct detection of Babesia in clinical specimens: the PCR and the Fluorescent In-Situ Hybridization (FISH) assays. The PCR assay detects DNA and can be performed on fresh or archived clinical specimens. The FISH assay is performed on thin blood smears and detects the ribosomal RNA of Babesia (thereby indicating active infection).